Grabbing Life By The Horns
by LycoX
Summary: The ups and downs of life as Riley and friends begin to grab life by the horns. (Sequel to A Very Philly Occasion!)
1. The Plan Is Made

**Chapter 1**

 **A New Year's**

 **Confrontation**

 **Part 1**

 **The Plan**

 **Is Made**

 **Disclaimer: I own nothing but what you see here. This is the follow up to Wild Times In Texas and A Very Philly Occasion! And if you haven't read those just yet, you may want too as you're likely to be lost if you start with this one. This story will be a lot longer then those two were and will feature the remaining time the kids have in middle school, followed by their time at high school, and maybe even college. And fair warning, there will no doubt be moments in this story you won't like. Now, let's get it on!**

 **I am surprised though that there wasn't much in the way of reactions to the Joshaya scene in A Very Philly Occasion!**

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 **January 31st, 2015 on New Year's Eve, Thursday at the Matthews' Apartment around 1:25 PM**

The past few days since coming back to New York after a fantastic Christmas in Philadelphia had been interesting to say the least. Course many of the residents could have done with out the cold temperatures that were pretty much making folks want to stay indoors as much as possible. Two such individuals were Riley Matthews and Maya Hart as they were both currently in Riley's bedroom and sitting at their Bay Window discussing a particular problem named Lucas Friar. Primarily the fact that the former Texan was pretty much AWOL since getting back to the Big Apple and even Zay had barely heard from his friend. It was confusing and hurtful that their friend was apparently going out of his way to not be around them and they were getting rather tired of it.

Maya in particular was getting to be a little angry since she herself had come by his house and had been pretty much told no by an apologetic Mrs. Friar who also wasn't too happy with the way her son was acting. Something was up and the girls were determined to get to the bottom of it. Though for Riley this was somewhat difficult as she was still somewhat freaked out over the fact she had kissed him right in front of everybody! But she had to wonder why she was feeling more freaked out then happy about the fact she had kissed her crush of nearly 2 years for a second time. The Pretty Brunette probably could have blamed Deanna for the whole mess but she didn't think it would be right even if she was probably at least a little bit to blame! What, with how she was flirting and all with her…

If she never got flirted with by a girl again it she'd be most happy. Now she didn't think of herself as close minded to those kinds of people but she wasn't exactly looking to try that side of life anytime soon. At least they were also doing some catch up reading with the _Sense and Sensibility_ book Harper had assigned them prior to Christmas break so at least not all was bad. Course they probably would both be finished by now had they brought their copies with them to Philly but it honestly hadn't occurred to them. While Riley had gotten pretty far into the book, Maya hadn't as her eyesight wasn't focusing all that well and gave her a minor headache cause of it too. Something that helped to remind her of why she preferred to sit up front instead of in the back like most 'cool' kids did.

"The only thing I can think of for why Lucas might be acting like he has is over what happened before we all left." Spoke up Riley even though she was hesitant to even bring it up as she was worried about Maya's reaction.

That definitely had Maya's reaction as she'd still been curious since it seemed like something had happened prior to her coming out of the house. The artist had to wonder though if it was close to anything like her experience with Josh in his room. "Yeah, what was up with all that anyway?"

The suddenly nervous look Riley got on her face made the blonde girl a little nervous. "Um… Well… Lucas came out of the house but got stopped by Deanna."

"Okay, so obviously those two managed to get surprisingly close while we there. No big deal about that."

"Yeah, if by close you mean the two started kissing soon afterwards as close..." Muttered Riley unhappily as she crossed her arms.

Maya's eyes widened over that bit of news! "WHAT!?" Exclaimed the shocked girl as she stood up.

Her Huckleberry kissing some girl he barely knew!? That honestly bugged her as at least she somewhat knew Josh compared to him knowing the blue haired girl! The jealousy she was feeling wasn't something she liked much of either since it meant her feelings for the Cowboy were alive and well. And that made Riley's little revelation that much more painful and confusing. And more confusion was the last freaking thing she needed for cryin' out loud! "And that's not all that happened."

"What? Did he get down on one knee and proclaim he wanted to ride off into the sunset with her like the freakin' Cowboy we all know he is!?" Heh, Riley wishes that was what happened!

"Um… No..." Squeaked out the girl while refusing to look in her friend's direction.

"I kind of got really unhappy about it and things happened. And they were very happening things too!"

 _She's stalling… Whatever it is that happened musta been big._

"IkissedLucastotryandmakeapointtoDeanna!" Got out the girl in a rush that the other girl didn't undersand all that well.

"Honey, you wanna try that again? Cause I barely heard ya."

Riley gulped as she looked up at her best friend. "I decided to prove a point to that girl that I was a better kisser then her!" She was SO not gonna tell Maya about the whole flirting thing the blue haired girl had done with her!

The girl's words hit Maya hard and she didn't need Riley to explain that any further as she got the gist of it all. Walking over to the bed and plopping down at the edge of it, she just stared at the bedroom door in shock and surprise. Maya wished she could be naive at this moment since hearing about that kiss bothered her. But its not like she could claim innocence either since she practically made out with Josh when he deepened the kiss! Which… You know… Was one heck of a first kiss for her. For Riley, she was honestly scared as she could tell how unhappy her best friend was after learning of her betrayal.

"Are… Are you mad at me Maya?" Asked the Matthews girl fearfully.

Her fearful tone snapped the Blonde Beauty out of her state of shock and surprise as she looked at Riley. "What? No, I'm not mad Riles. Shocked? Yes. Surprised? Yes. But mad? Nah." Okay, she was lying about the mad part but the girl didn't need to know that. Along with her feeling pretty hurt over it as well. Though Maya wondered if she was possibly being hypocritical in some way considering the thing with Josh.

And if Riley was relieved to hear that? The look on her face definitely showed she was as she had no reason to disbelieve Maya. Even if the girl was well within her right to be mad for the kiss but she figured that that interloper was reason enough to be mad about… Riley then got an idea that would hopefully help make this whole thing much better as it would ensure Lucas would be there and not hiding away like he had been. "I think we should have a ball. Like the girls in the book Harper assigned to us."

Maya was confused by that as she didn't think some event would help anything at all. "Honey, I really don't think that's gonna do anything since it was more about available guys and all that."

Hear, Riley smiled as she got up and started pacing back and forth in front of Maya. "But that's just it Peaches! We aren't having this party because of available guys, we're having it because its New Year's Eve. AND! It'll draw out Lucas as we'll get his mom involved and she'll give him little choice in the whole thing!"

 _Huh… That just might work. Or fail big time…_

And who knows how that might go if it did fail pretty badly. Something that honestly worried the blonde more then she liked. But before she could really say anything, Riley was out the door and yelling out for her mom that she had a plan for what they could do for New Year's. Sighing to herself, Maya got off the bed and went to go follow Riley and listen to the girl speak more on the whole plan with her mom. _Who knows, maybe getting ol' Blueberry out in the open will help me with the confusion I'm feelin' in some way…_

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 **Author's Notes: And thus the story begins with a plan. How will it fare in the end? Read on to find out!**


	2. A Chat Between a Daughter and Parents

**Chapter 2**

 **A New**

 **Year's Confrontation**

 **Part 2**

 **A Chat**

 **Between a**

 **Daughter and Parents**

 **Disclaimer: I own nothing but what you see here. BOOM! Studios' Fiction Squad is a read I highly recommend. This takes place a few hours later from the first chapter.**

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 **Matthews' Apartment around 4:02 PM**

Things had gotten quite busy in the time since the party had been thought up by Riley. Calls were made to their classmates to invite them to the fun for the night and Mrs. Jansen had promised she would make sure Lucas would be there as well since she didn't want him sitting around the house doing nothing. Talk of a night out on the town was also learned of in regards to Katy and Shawn and Maya was happy about that since it would mean her mom wouldn't be hanging out at home with Gammy and Ginger for company. Around three Riley had even convinced Shawn to take her to the grocery store for much needed supplies for the party. Though the man had amusingly tried to get out of it until the girl had gotten him where it counted by making a remark that it would allow them to spend a little quality time together and would help make up for his not being around as much in earlier years if they did the shopping together.

Shawn had slumped his shoulders thanks to the reminder and he was much more agreeable about it after that. Maya had decided to stay back at the Matthews' place since she was wanting a moment to herself since the whole party thing had kept her from being able to leave thanks to Riley wanting her help in the whole thing. She was sitting on the couch absentmindedly playing with some string when Cory and Topanga came into the living room. "Ohh! What's this Topanga?"

"I don't know Cory, but I think its a Wild Blonde in our living room."

Cory fake gasped over his wife's response. "A Wild Blonde you say!?"

"Mm-hmm. And this one's quite the Amazon Warrior too."

Maya couldn't help but roll her eyes while smiling at the two adults' antics. Looking at them with tha smile still on her face she felt grateful for the fact she had them in her life. They then both sat down next to her on opposite sides of her. "So, what's got ya on this couch instead of out there with Riley and Shawnie? Asked Cory curiously.

"I… Just needed a moment to myself. To try and think about stuff."

"What kinds of stuff honey?" Topanga asked concernedly.

"Stuff that's just got me all confused." Admitted the girl and making the two adults more concerned then before.

"Aww, what about?" Asked Topanga before Cory could.

She was silent for a moment before finally answering. "Feelings… Boys… Feelings for boys."

"The Jerks!" Groused Cory much to Maya's amusement.

 _Teenagers and feelings, gotta love it._ Mused Topanga.

Topanga wrapped an arm around her surrogate daughter in comfort and Maya felt happy over it and leaned in a little. "Feelings tend to be big for girls and boys your age and can be pretty confusing. Even for a fierce, Amazon warrior like you."

Maya nodded at her words as it was seriously true and sucky. "Yeah, tell me about it. For the longest time I thought I had actual feelings for him you know? But now? I'm not so sure about that."

"Would this 'him' be my little brother?" Cory asked as it was obvious as can be that Maya tended to act pretty differently around him compared to how she was with other boys like Lucas, Farkle, and Zay. Though how she was with Lucas a lot of the time was very telling in the man's view.

Heh, leave it to her teacher to instantly figure it out. Looking at him, she nodded. "Yeah, that would be the one."

The Blonde Beauty just hoped he wouldn't freak out over what she was about to tell the two of them. "Now please don't freak out like you tend to do with Riley when it comes to boys she likes." Pleaded the girl.

Cory raised an eyebrow at her over that. "Sweetie, you're like a daughter to me so I can't promise you anything there." He told her with a smile and causing her to feel touched and pretty happy by his words.

"Okay… So umm… Before we came back home, I decided to talk with Josh while we were still at the house. And I decided to go for it and kiss him after we got done talking."

Cory and Topanga were honestly surprised by that bit of news even though they both knew she was the type to charge head on. Cory of course wanted to go and have a little talk with his little brother about the whole thing. "Boys! Always lurin' ya in with their pretty faces!"

"I don't know about that honey, it was your vibe of celery that lured me in." Teased Topanga and making Maya laugh in the process.

"Well, I'm obviously the exception to the rule."

Cory then got serious afterwards. "So your first big kiss and it left you unsure huh?"

Maya nodded with a sad look on her face and got a rub of comfort on her arm from Topanga. "Sometimes all it takes is a kiss to know whether or not something's actually there. Even with any feelings you feel you have to begin with." Said the mother sagely.

A chuckle came from Cory. "Yeah, God knows I was kinda freaked out when you kissed me against that locker back in the sixth grade. But even then I could feel something for you even if I didn't exactly understand what that was until later."

Topanga smiled at him and Maya could practically feel the love radiating between the two before the two gave her their attention once more. The affection in their eyes decided to make the young girl speak further on her confusion and unsureness. "Don't get me wrong, the kiss with him was wow worthy. Especially for my first time but while it was happening Lucas popped into my head."

"I wish I could say I was surprised to hear that sweetie but with the way you two act around one another its easy to see there's something there between you two."

Maya looked at him in surprise as the man didn't sound all that upset when he had spoken. "You're not… You're not mad?"

Her hesitance was easy to hear in her voice for the two and Cory quickly reassured her that he wasn't. "Not at all, what you feel is what you feel and it can't be helped." Topanga gave a hum of agreement to that.

"But what about Riley? I really don't want to hurt her as I know she has feelings for him."

Topanga took that one after a quick look at her husband. "Sometimes hurting is unavoidable. And even if you aren't doing anything about it to keep her happy, in the long run it hurts you too by not doing anything. Another thing to consider about all this is that Riley has a certain view point about Lucas thanks to the idea of her father and I."

"A view point that clearly keeps her from being accepting of all sides of him as those other sides hurts that view of hers. That view point is something she's going to need to learn to let go of as otherwise, she won't be able to have her own story and happiness." Threw in Cory and Maya had to agree with that as she clearly remembered the whole fiasco that got started when Zay first showed up.

Heck, had she not started to make comments during Riley's grilling of the guy things might have gotten a bit ugly too. And now that she was thinking about it, the Blonde Beauty wasn't too sure if Riles ever even apologized to him for how she was acting either. "Yeah, I get what you mean by that."

"The last thing we want of course is to see you and Riley falling out over a boy. But I truly think because of the strong friendship you two have that may not even happen. You clearly have feelings for Lucas if he's what popped into your head while you were kissing Josh and if you want to try to see where that goes? Then by all means go for it as I doubt that's something you want to look back on and regret not doing because of fear." Added Topanga encouragingly.

A sigh escaped the young girl as she knew Mrs. Matthews had a really good point. She wanted to live life and do all that she could so that when she was old and gray she could look back on life and not have any regrets. Maya didn't want to turn out like May Clutterbucket had by never trying and making for so many missed opportunies in the process. "Does this get easier in any way?"

"Nope." Cory told her while popping the 'p'.

"In fact it gets harder. Especially in high school. But as long as you have your friends by your side you'll be just fine as you go through it."

 _The fact these two don't sugarcoat things for me makes me glad Riley came into my life._

"So I can either leave things be or actually try and let what happens happen."

The two adults nodded at her and she let out a breath afterwards. "Thank you, I really needed this talk." The girl told them gratefully and they both smiled at her warmly.

Maya then wrapped Topanga in a hug before kissing her on the cheek, then leaned over to Cory and gave him a hug as well. "Anytime you need to talk, we are always here for you." The father told her and Topanga nodded in full on agreement.

Those would be words the artist would take to heart as she knew there was no lie to be heard in that. "I think… I think I'm gonna head home for a bit." Maya then rose up and headed for the door while making sure to grab her coat.

Giving the two one last look and getting encouragingly warm smiles in return, she made her way out as she began to think on everything. Cory and Topanga looked at one another before she slid to his side and he wrapped an arm around her. Both hoped that things for their surrogate daughter would lead to much in the way of happiness as she definitely deserved it. Things no doubt would be a little tense with Riley but their friendship would no doubt pull them through in the end.

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 **Author's Notes: This was something of a challenge to write considering the feelings involved. But hopefully I handled it extremely well. Had the kiss with Josh not happened, her conversation with Cory and Topanga probably would have played out somewhat closely to how it did on the GMNY episode. Up next: The party gets in full swing, and its sure to be quite the event!**


	3. Let's Party!

**Chapter 3**

 **Let's Party!**

 **Disclaimer: I own nothing but what you see here, however I do now own season four of Boy Meets World. And special thanks to the guest reviewer! And chances are if you've read chapter 2 by now you know what the likelyhood of Joshaya actually happening now is.**

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 **10:05 at the Matthews' Apartment**

The New Year's Eve party was in full swing by the time Wendy showed up with Lucas in their car. Needless to say, the Huckleberry from Texas wasn't too happy about being there either but his mom had been insistent as she didn't like the fact he was sitting around all mopey and unhappy and felt this was the best way to get him out of it. Something he disagreed with as he really wasn't wanting to face Maya after what he saw between her and Josh. "Now I want you to go up there and have fun instead of being all mopey for whatever reason." Why he continued to be that way was beyond her since he refused to tell her why anytime she asked.

Lucas let out a sigh. "I'm really not sure about all this momma." If Josh was there who knows what might happen if he saw the guy and Maya bein' all close like.

"Just give it a shot okay? Maybe being with your friends will help you stop being all mopey. Besides, what's the worst that could happen?"

That's what he was afraid of but since his momma wasn't gonna budge, he knew he had to do this. "I'll try momma." The smile he got in return showed him he'd just done the right thing even though he didn't feel like it was.

"I'll be back around 12:10 to pick you up okay?"

Lucas nodded and got out of the car with an 'I love you' to his momma. Looking up at the apartment, he let out a breath and made his way inside. A few minutes later he found himself behind Riley somewhat talking with Farkle and Smackle. Who yet again seemed to think he was trying something even though he wasn't! He had enough on his plate as it is and the last thing he needed was another girl in the whole thing. As he moved into the apartment, he saw just about every classmate of theirs from History class and even a few that weren't. Such as a few of the cheerleaders and Farkle and Smackle's friends from Einstein Academy. Seeing Maya alone at the bay window, he gave a nod her way and briefly thought about joining her but didn't want to cause trouble in case Josh had a problem with it.

And instead joined Dave, Wyatt, Chang, and Jeffrey where they were behind the couch. Which caused him to completely miss the look Maya sent him for not coming over there like she thought he was going too. She was soon joined by Riley who asked if she was just going to sit there instead of going over there to Lucas. "As remember, one of the reasons we started this party is so that we could get him to talk with us."

Maya would have liked to point out that it wasn't so much her as it was Riley but said nothing. But she knew the girl had a point. "You're absolutely right Riles, let's go round him up."

The two got up to do exactly that while missing the fact that Billy Ross and the Rebel known as Brandon had been nearby listening in on the whole thing even though they hadn't intended to. "How well you think that's gonna go?" Asked Billy.

"Probably about as well you think it might go if he's been tryin' to avoid 'em." Replied the Rebel.

Billy nodded at that and then a thought came to him even though it was a weird one. "You know… This is probably like the first time we've ever really hung out but it seems like something's missing."

Brandon was about to make a retort to that and call the guy crazy but then it hit him when he realized Billy was right. "Huh… You make a good point." The two would get to thinking long and hard about that for awhile.

Meanwhile after the greeting Maya gave Lucas, things were awkwardly quiet and Charlie's little quip hadn't helped things either with the awkwardness. Thankfully Riley decided to drag him away while the four boys went elsewhere in the apartment to let the two talk on their own. "So, how ya been?" Asked the Blonde Beauty and wondering why this was harder then what it should be. Things were always so easy for the two of them, even with the bickering they did.

"I've been… Alright." Which was a complete lie of course.

"Oh. That's, that's good."

Lucas rubbed the back of his head uncomfortably and blurted out the next question that came to mind even though it was the last thing he even wanted to know about. "How uhh… How's Josh?"

"Stuck on bedrest but he's getting better."

"Oh, well I'm sorry he couldn't be here then to enjoy the party with ya."

Maya was confused by that since the guy had to have remembered the fact Josh had been basically ordered on bedrest as much as possible until he was a hundred percent again. "Hey its cool, Uncle Boing needs to focus on getting better then being out in the cold."

"Well, I hope he makes a speedy recovery so that way you two don't have to be all apart and what not." God how he hated to say that!

And if anything, Maya was even more confused and she hated every bit of it. She was about to ask what the heck he meant by that when Charlie called out asking if anybody wanted to play the game of Life's Questions. Which basically was a card game where you answered various questions related to life and some questions had the odd tendency to reflect your life in some ways. Lucas wound up getting goaded into it by Charlie's friendly teasing much to Maya's annoyance who only really wanted to know what the crap the Cowboy had been talking about! But she had the bright idea to snatch him up as a partner before anybody else could since the game allowed for teams if they really wanted to do it that way.

A little cute moment happened after that with Farkle and Smackle, though Maya seemed to think her genius friend seemed a little unhappy when the girl put her head on his shoulder. Why that was she had no idea. Riley was the first to go with the cards and her's asked what was the best movie theater snack. "Popcorn and Licorice!" Answered Charlie with a big smile and getting more then a few looks for it.

"What? Its true!"

"Man we all know buttered up popcorn with jelly babies mixed in is the best snack." Answered Zay in response from his spot by the dinner table.

"That seems highly unhealthy Isaiah." Remarked Smackle.

Zay shrugged at that. "Unhealthy or not it tastes great!"

She wanted to argue on that but a small clearing of the throat from her man stopped that but she promised to bring it up again at a later time. Riley, deciding it was time to move on before things could get out of hand with the question's answered, passed the box of cards on to Maya. Who's question asked whether or not all signs should be respected. Brandon had an opinion on that one however. "I think it depends really."

"Depends on what?" Asked Yogi from his spot next to Darby.

"If whether or not its a legal thing where the sign is concerned."

"Why that would even be something to even think about? If its legal then you know its okay to do it. Illegal then you already know its not okay." Asked Riley confusedly.

Brandon gave her a smirk as he knew full well the girl could be naive in the more serious things of life. "I'm a rebel and illegal and or frowned upon things are a part of the rebel life. Well, for me anyway."

Riley made a face at that as he leaned over to fist bump with Maya. "You should think about making a change to something a little less rebellious. Like… A bunny farmer or doctor."

Maya rolled her eyes over that one as Brandon gave her an amused smile. "Yeah, I'll uhh… I'll keep that in mind." God was she cute but no way was he gonna do either of those things!

He got a beaming smile from the girl and he could hear Billy snickering and lowly muttering about kissing in a tree for the two. The glare Billy got after that was worth it in his view as he just smiled back at the guy in return. "Well I think unless its a life or death situation, signs should be respected." Threw in Lucas and getting an eyeroll from Maya.

"Yeah, you would think that Saint Huck." Teased the girl with a smile seconds later.

"Comes with being a reformed cowboy ma'am." Lucas replied deadpan and getting a snort from Zay in the process.

Riley frowned at that as it came dangerously close to going against a certain viewpoint of hers. "I think its time to move on before we get derailed even more." Spoke up the brunette and pretty much ruining what would have been a fun amount of bickering between two certain people.

A few groans could be heard since they were already looking forward to seeing the bickering happening. Lucas gently took the card box from Maya and handed it over to Smackle, who's question would ask what the best way to stop an argument would be. "Hmm… That is a simple response. In the case of my former archnemesis I would merely tickle him."

"How could you possibly..." Began Maya

"Know anything like that?" Finished Lucas in wonderment.

Smackle smiled at the two. "Observe carefully." She put a finger on Farkle's ear and started to rub it and the boy went rigid and started to emit a very strange noise.

Something that honestly weirded out everybody in the room too. After she stopped the tickle, she looked back to the two beside her with a smug grin on her face. "A little discovery of mine I made by complete accident. But a very effective and enjoyable discovery none the less." Farkle for his part looked a bit embarrassed and red in the face after having that demonstrated in front of everybody.

"Huh." Was all Maya could say and everybody else couldn't help but agree.

 _I hope I don't have that ear thing._ Thought Lucas hopefully as no telling who'd use that against him for their own needs. Maya briefly came to mind before the thought was pushed away ruthlessly as he reminded himself of the fact she's pretty much with Josh now.

Just then, the doorbell sounded and Cory quickly made his way to it. "Pizza's here!" And it was a good thing they had done the ordering earlier on as it would have been a nightmare to get anything going now.

The food and drinks were passed out after that and it put off the game for the time being. Though Maya was more concerned about the weird thing with Lucas from earlier on. And after a few slices in her belly that were just darn good, she asked the very question on her mind. "So Sundance, what's with you and this whole apart thing about with me and Uncle Boing?" Her question caused him to freeze up momentarily before he looked right at her with pizza hanging out of his mouth.

The sight would have been comical if things weren't so serious at the time. And their fellow teenagers could tell things just got real serious then and there. Though none of them knew just how serious things were about to get.

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 **Author's Notes: A portion of this was inspired by IncorrectGMWQuotes, which was fun to do with this chapter. I doubt that Life game I used here actually exists but I couldn't very well use the Couples game considering what's going on. Anyways, hope you all enjoyed and look forward to your thoughts! R and R!**


	4. An Unpleasant Chat

**Chapter 4**

 **An Unpleasant**

 **Chat**

 **Disclaimer: I own nothing but what you see here.**

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 **11:40 PM**

Maya waited on him somewhat impatiently to start talking as he just stared at her in surprise with some pizza hanging out of his mouth. Biting off the slice and putting the rest back down on a paper plate he had, he chewed on the part of the slice already in his mouth before swallowing it. Lucas had really hoped to avoid this but it seemed Maya wasn't about to give him an out. "Ain't it obvious?"

A shake of the head was the initial response. "Uhh… No, its not obvious at all."

Lucas sighed before looking back at her. "You and Josh are a thing now right? So you two havin' to be apart cause of the recovery time is a sucky thing to deal with."

"Lucas, why would you think Maya and my uncle are together!?" Asked a confused Riley, which was something Maya wanted to know herself for cryin' out loud!

"Yeah Sundance, why would you think that?" The blonde was feeling somewhat nervous in addition to her confusion as there was no way he could have known about that kiss! Right?

A shrug came from the boy's shoulders. "Well, for one, I saw the two of ya kissin' that day I came up to let ya know it was time to leave."

"WHAT!?" Shouted out Riley in shock and partly wondering why her dad wasn't doing the same!

For Riley, she could hardly believe what she'd just heard! Her own best friend and her uncle kissing!? She didn't want her own best friend as an aunt darn it! As it was just way too weird to even think about! As for Maya? She was shocked and a little embarrassed that that particular bit of information was now known by their classmates and friends. Especially Riley for that matter as she had hoped the girl wouldn't ever find out! However, there was no way in heck her and the Hucklebery were gonna talk about that or anything else in front of everybody though! "Bay Window, Bay Window right now." Called out Riley.

Everybody looked to her after that but Maya wasn't quite willing to abide by that as she wanted to talk with the Huckleberry somewhere else that was alone. "No, I don't think so Riles."

"Hmmph, why not? Secret's done got out so I can't see why ya don't wanna talk about it." Offered up Lucas with an annoyed look on his face.

 _Refusin' to talk ain't gonna do ya no good._ He added seconds later in his head.

Maya gave him a glare by that but he just didn't care at that point. "It happened and there's nothing to talk about. And even if there was, I'd rather talk about it when there's not a crowd around for it." She told him annoyedly.

"Oh come on! You've been after the guy for months and you're actin' like the kiss is no big deal? I don't buy that at all." Protested Lucas.

"Yeah! Its your first kiss and its a big deal!" Added Riley who felt something like that shouldn't be treated as nothing!

A groan came from Maya after that. "You know what Saint Huck? How about you and I go up to the rooftop so we can talk about this cause obviously you seem to have a stick up your butt about this." Heck it was almost like he was being jealous! Which if that was the case would be another sign of feelings of his towards her.

Which… When she thought about it… She no doubt would have been jealous as heck if she had seen him and Deanna kissing! As it was she had some jealousy in her over that anyway! "What's to talk about? You chose him, end of story."

 _Oh boy… He really is jealous…_ Maya wasn't too sure how to handle this side of him to be honest.

"Nuh-uh Cowboy, not even close. But you and me? We're gonna talk about this privately on the rooftop." She rose up from her spot on the couch and went towards the door before looking back at him.

"Come on!" She told him with a slightly raised voice as she grabbed her coat.

Lucas sighed agitatedly but did as asked. As it is, better privately where anger and potential tears were unlikely to be seen if it came down to that. "Hold on!" Protested Riley as Lucas made for the door.

"No Riles, this is between Lucas and me okay? So please respect that and stay out of it."

And with that the two were out the door and on their way to the rooftop with an unhappy Riley being left behind. The brunette made to head that way herself but was stopped by Farkle. "Farkle! Why are you getting in the way!? Those are our friends and we need to be up there!"

He shook his head at her. "No, we don't Riley. This is between them and you need to respect that."

A frown came from the girl as she didn't like that response at all. Meanwhile, as Farkle dealt with an unhappy Riley and had some occasional help from her parents and others, Maya and Lucas had made quick work of their arrival at the rooftop. And both were thankful they had their coats on as it was a bit on the chilly side at the moment. "There is no end of story cause I didn't choose him okay!?"

"How the heck could ya not have chosen him!? The two of ya were kissin' each other! And ya both looked quite into it too! So if that's not choosing, I don't know what it is!"

A groan escaped from Maya. "Gee, for someone who was being such a _Blueberry_ with a local you sure are being real jealous!"

Lucas took a step back in shock before stuttering out that he didn't know what she was talking about. Maya gave him a look that said she didn't believe that at all. "Oh please, you know EXACTLY what I'm talking about. Riley TOLD me she saw you and Deanna kissing before we left!"

"Did she tell ya that she kissed me soon afterwards?" Fired back Lucas hotly.

"Yes! But that's besides the point! You were kissing another girl so don't you dare go around acting like you're the only one with some jealousy going on!'

Lucas scoffed at that. "Oh please, are you gonna tell me that _you're_ jealous of me kissin' Kentucky? When you yourself were up in that room practically makin' out with Josh!?"

"YES!" Shouted out Maya angrily and really, really wanting to throttle the guy!

A 'hah!' came from the former Texan as he could hardly believe what he'd just heard! "Sorry, but I just don't buy that at all."

The Blonde Beauty looked at him in clear disbelief over that. "What do ya mean you don't buy that at all!? Its true!"

"Right, if ya say so."

"So you're the only one allowed to be jealous just cause YOU saw me kissing him!?"

"YES! Because I feel somethin' for ya Maya! But seein' that in his room tore at me like you wouldn't believe!"

To say she was shocked was an understatement as she definitely wasn't expecting him to even admit that! The two were also so into their argument that neither of them even realized they had an audience in the form of Riley who had steadfastedly in her stubbornness gotten past Farkle and the others to come out here to do what she could to keep the two from really getting into it. And like her best friend, she too was shocked to hear the words that came out of Lucas' mouth. Shocked and feeling hurt cause he had never said anything like that to her. "Well newsflash for you Lucas, hearing what you and she did and later what Riley did tore at me too!"

Lucas wasn't sure if he could even believe that thanks to all the anger he was feeling. And Maya must have been able to see that for herself as she went onwards. "That kiss I had with Josh told me one thing. You wanna know what that is?"

"No, not really as it told me plenty enough." He responded through clinched teeth.

"Yeah? Well clearly it gave you the wrong information! That kiss made me realize I didn't feel anything for him! Any real feelings I have are for you and I know that now!"

A scoff could be heard and a look of clear disbelief could be seen on the young man's face. As for Riley? Haering that was just honestly shocking. Now she had come to the conclusion back in Texas that her best friend felt something for Lucas but a part of her had been hoping it was just going to go away. But hearing that just told her that was clearly not going to be the case and she had no idea how to really even handle that. "How, how can you look at me like you don't believe me? Have I ever lied to you about anything really serious?" Maya asked him in a hurt tone of voice and trying to force away the tears that were wanting to come out.

"Because I don't! You were after him for so long and a kiss tells you its not what you think? I'm just havin' trouble even believin' that."

Maya gaped at him shock over that one. She could hardly believe he had said that and realized that his jealousy and anger was most likely clouding his better judgement and she hated every bit of that. A part of her wanted to blame Riley for all this even happening since it was her who had spoken on things she had no businesss even doing to begin with. "Its the truth! I like you! Not him!" Protested the girl and feeling more angrier by the second as he shook his head in denial.

Fed up with him, she marched over, grabbed the upper portion of top and pulled him down to her before he could even really do anything to stop it and kissed him. And as they kissed, fireworks went off. Figuratively and literally as it was now offically a new year and the kiss between the two was explosive in every way that neither had felt with Josh and Deanna respectively. Riley was honestly shocked and a little hurt to see the two kissing but she couldn't turn away or speak out due to the state of shock she was in. She didn't even register the fact Farkle had a hand on her shoulder in comfort for that matter. And finally, after what felt like an eternity for Maya and Lucas. The two pulled apart as the fireworks continued to go off into the night sky.

For Lucas Friar, if Deanna's kiss was wow worthy, the kiss with Maya was on a level above that. And Maya was feeling completely the same way and it told her all she needed to know in regards to her feelings for Lucas 'Of Many Nicknames' Friar. However, to her shock and hurt, Lucas pulled away from her as he shook his head in denial seconds later. "No, just… No. I won't… I will NOT be some second best choice for you!" He stated angrily as the anger and jealously from before the kiss came roaring back and causing him to make a very big mistake.

To hear him say that surprised Riley and Farkle greatly and to cause Maya a lot of pain as she could hardly believe he thought that. "What!? You aren't any second best choice!" She got out with a wavering voice.

As he could never be that to her for cryin' out loud! A huff came from him and he turned away, ready to leave the rooftop and go home so that he could put all this behind him. Maya started calling out to him as the tears she tried to fight against desperately wanted to come out as her heart broke into a million pieces at the sight of him walking away from her. Lucas ignored it all and was met by Riley and Farkle who clearly were not happy with him at all. "Move." He told them simply but neither did.

"Lucas..." Started Riley with the full intention of a lecture at him for how he was being at the moment.

"MOVE!" Shouted out the boy and the two reared back in fear at his voice and quickly got the heck out of the way.

He quickly walked past them and not even caring in that moment for how he'd just been towards his two friends. The two watched him go and Farkle made the decision to go after him, leaving Riley behind to console her best friend on her own. And as she went to go towards her best friend and sister in all but blood, she was stopped by one single word. "Don't."

"What? What do you mean 'don't'?"

Maya looked right at her with an expression of pure anger mixed in with pain and it was something Riley never ever wanted to see on the girl's face ever again. "Don't come near me. I asked you to stay away from us so that we could talk. And yet you ignored my request like you do just about everything else that doesn't agree with you."

The Pretty Brunette was stunned and hurt to hear that come from her best friend's mouth. "M-Maya..."

"No! I wished you hadn't said a thing to begin with back in Texas! It wasn't even your place as it is!"

 _Is she saying this is my fault!? I was only doing what I thought was right!_

"Maya! I only did what I thought was right! If I hadn't of said anything nothing would have ever even happened!"

The look she got was also something she never wanted to see aimed her way again by Maya. "No, you did what you thought was right when it really WASN'T. Something you clearly need to learn Riley. Some things come out in their own time and should NEVER be forced. Telling MY feelings was NOT your place! It was mine! DO YOU UNDERSTAND THAT!?"

But before Riley could even say a single thing in defense of herself and try to fight back her own tears over the harsh words being directed at her. Maya was past her and in the doorway without a single look back with the clear intention of going home. As Riley broke into tears over how horrible things had gone, she found herself being hugged by Zay in comfort. Charlie was nearby as well and watching the girl he liked in tears with a sad look on his face. "Its gonna be okay Sugar." Soothed Zay as Cory and Topanga soon came out to the rooftop to witness their daughter in tears.

Neither of them were sure what was going to happen next but they could only hope it wouldn't end with her daughter and the group of friends she had being split apart forever.

 **Fourty Minutes Later…**

The train ride home for Maya had thankfully been uneventful as a few tears escaped along the way, and once she got home she was further thankful Gammy Hurt was asleep and that her mom was still clearly out with Shawn as she did not want to deal with any of them at the moment. Once inside her room, she quickly changed into something she didn't mind getting ruined by paint and set up her work station to start painting. And as she did so with a few strokes of the brush, Maya looked on brokenly as the tears came down. And it wasn't before long that she was flinging paint wildly at the canvas in tears from the pain brought on by the heart break Lucas had caused her.

She soon collapsed to the floor afterwards and held herself as she cried. Ginger made his way to her and made a few noises to show his concern for his girl and she picked him and held him close to her as she continued to cry. "I… I don't think you'll be seeing Daddy anymore baby." She told him tearfully.

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 **Author's Notes: Damn, I knew this was gonna be heart breaking but I didn't expect to feel as much as I am right now after having finished this. But is this really the end? You'll simply have to read on to find out.**


	5. Aftermaths, Smoothies, Dresses, and

**Chapter 5**

 **Aftermaths, Smoothies,**

 **Dresses, and Catfights**

 **Disclaimer: As you may well know by now, I own nothing but what you see here. And many thanks to the guest reviewer for the 4th chapter. Though I think by the time I'm done with this story (which will be around 50 or so chapters from now), this will be a level beyond epic! And now, on with the show!**

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 **January 20th, 2016**

So far, the new year had sucked hard for the likes of Riley Matthews, Maya Hart, Lucas Friar, Farkle Minkus, and Zay Babineaux to a certain extent. Maya was refusing to talk to Riley despite the brunette's attempts to speak with her to try and clear the air. As the daughter of Cory and Topanga had come to realize just how true Maya's words had been that night on the rooftop about how it hadn't been her place to say anything on Maya's feelings to Lucas. Farkle was none too happy with Lucas after the guy had given him a black eye when he struck out wildly when the genius had tried to get him to stop walking away outside of the apartment. He was also none too happy with the fact that neither Riley or Maya weren't speaking with one another and it was hurting themselves and the group badly. Maya also pretty much refused to even speak or look in Lucas' general direction and had switched seats with Sara so that she wouldn't be in front of him or near Riley and her attempts to get a talk going.

Lucas had been grounded for a week straight after his momma had learned of what went down at the party. Which hadn't really bothered him since he'd been feeling huge amounts of guilt and anger until the guilt managed to outweigh the anger. Guilt for how he had treated Maya, Riley, and Farkle that night and he just had no clue of what to do to try and fix it since neither of them were really wanting to talk that much with him or even look at him. The whole thing had made for a fairly horrible first month of the year and a huge part of him hoped that things would get better soon in some way. There was also the fact that down in the subway things weren't too good there either as it seemed those who knew Maya were giving him all kinds of crap for how he'd treated her on New Year's Eve.

As for how any of them knew about it? Evelyn Rand had noticed how down Maya looked a few days into the new year and talked with the girl. From there it spread to others who geniunely liked and respected Maya a great deal after seeing her around a lot down in the subways and even hanging out with her from time to time. Word had it that even Gretchen and Aria were planning something pretty spectacular to get payback on the ol' Cowboy for his actions. Lucas had at one point flat out told Maya that if her little subway friends didn't stop their actions on him that bodily harm would happen. His words had confused her until she talked to a few folks down there and learned what was going on. She had thanked them for it but told them it wasn't necessary to do on her behalf. Words they had argued against and straight up told her that until he apologized they wouldn't stop.

Bodily harm had yet to happen however thanks in part to Evelyn later on having a talk with those involved and that the cold shoulder was the best way to go instead. As for Zay? He tried to stay out of the whole thing as much as he could but was there for any of them if they needed the support. But he honestly hoped things would get better before too long because he knew if it didn't, the great group of friends would likely be forever shattered. And that was the last thing he wanted to see happen as he liked all of them a great deal. The fact Mr. Matthews had yet to use some history lesson to fix all this had shocked him. And when he asked about it, the man had admitted that he wasn't sure what he could use to do it. And that this was one thing they were going to have to fix without the lesson. Something Harper had unfortunately agreed with too. He'd also had a few strong words for Lucas about how one doesn't punch their own friends in the face no matter how angry they are.

He also had a fairly strong opinion about Missy Bradford too after the girl had decided to worm her way into Lucas' path and even somehow convince the guy to go out on a date with her. Zay had even called out his best friend on his stupidity but the guilt eating away at him had him doing some stupid things recently. Among those being in an arm wrestling contest with his former bully Joey the week before and now more recently this date. A date he told Maya all about and the girl wasn't exactly happy to hear it either. Little did he know what the girl would wind up doing that night, of course if he had he definitely would have gotten involved in that! And it was just as Lucas and Missy were coming out of a pizza joint when the big moment happened that would later cause a catfight to erupt between the two girls at school.

Lucas for his part had realized about ten minutes into their date that he had made a huge mistake in agreeing to the date as the girl was just way too self absorbed and in his opinion, needed a good peg or two knocked out of her to get out of that whole thing. And once they had eaten their fill, Lucas had hoped the night was going to end but it seemed Missy had other ideas much to his unhappiness. _I swear, next time I am listening to you Zay._

Missy it seemed wanted to go and see some live music at a place she liked to go to and had latched on to his arm with no intention of letting go. "Trust me, I think you'll _love_ it Lukie." Cooed the girl in a sweet tone that made him want to cringe.

"Don'tcha think we should walk this food off before doin' anything else?"

"Aww! That's so sweet of you to think about that!" And it was then that he internally groaned as he realized what he had just walked himself into.

For Missy, she felt this walk would make the two of them that much closer and the further he was away from those little kids he for some reason liked, the better it all was in her view. But fate on the other hand had other plans it seemed. Plans Lucas would actually like since it got him out of the date. And it all came into being when a big truck pulled right up in front of them a short distance away. And on top of it? Was Maya Penelope Hart with a huge grin on her face and what looked to be a hose in her hands as she stood up. It honestly reminded him and others in the area of the trucks both Stone Cold Steve Austin and Kurt Angle used back in the day respectively. "Oh great, unwanted company." Commented Missy sarcastically.

"Hello there folks! Heard you two was on a date tonight and thought to myself about how much fun it'd be if something hilarious happened." Well, fun as heck for her anyway.

A sneer was sent her way from Missy after that. "Sorry little girl, you aren't invited so why don't you go back home and play with your dollies?"

Maya smirked at her instead. "Nah, I think that's more your thing."

That retort didn't sit too well with the pink wearing girl and she turned to Lucas with a frown on her face. "Aren't you going to do something about this!? I am your girlfriend now after all!"

Lucas for his part was stunned by that. Girlfriend!? He'd sooner get chased by both Cain and Tombstone the Bulls before starting a relationship with her! "Uhh.. Missy… We're not, we're not… Isn't this supposed to be just a date only?"

She was about to fire back when Maya's voice interrupted her. "HIT IT JAKE" And with that, from out of her hose came a stream of pink, strawberry flavored smoothie goodness that blasted the two but good.

The force of it caused them to stumble down to the ground as the stream of smoothie goodness continued to rain down upon them. And one could easily hear Missy's screams through it all. Finally however, it thankfully ended seconds later and after Maya climbed down and hopped into the passenger door. She and the truck with the mysterious driver known as Jake were gone, leaving a very stunned crowd and a very angry Missy Bradford in its wake. Struggling to stand up as Lucas did the same though he was more amused as heck then anything else by what had happened. Missy took a look at herself and at her surroundings before letting out a loud scream of anger. "I WILL GET HER! OOH! I WILL GET HER IF ITS THE LAST THING I DO!" And with that, she stormed off as Lucas just watched on satisfied that the date was finally over.

Making his own way home, he didn't see the African American man dressed in all black with no sleeves on the shirt and the word 'DAMN' written in white on the front of it walk up to the smoothie-fied area. This man was WWE's own Ron Simmons. Taking a look around for himself and eyeing the two hosed down kids. He put his hands on his sides and said the one and only thing that could come to mind at a time like this. "DAMN!" Laughter could be heard after that as he walked off shaking his head over the whole thing.

 **January 21st, Mr. Matthews' Classroom**

The bell had yet to ring and most of the students had yet to get into their seats because of it. Maya had her back turned towards the door while talking to Yindra and Wyatt and getting laughter out of them for what she had done the night before with the Smoothie Truck. Riley could be seen frowning over the whole thing since she felt it was not a very nice thing to do. But Farkle and Zay couldn't help but find the whole thing to be funy as heck. Just then, Lucas himself walked into the classroom. But something was very different about him. So different in fact that those in the classroom were looking at him in complete shock! Wondering what was going on, Maya turned to look at the source and was stunned to see none other then Lucas Friar himself in a wig, make up, boots, and a purple v-neck dress! She couldn't help but to double over laughing at the sight of it and it wasn't long before everybody aside from Riley joined in on the laughter. "Looking great man!" Called out Zay between laughs.

"You get asked out yet!?" Asked Yogi, making Lucas groan which made a few of the kids think he had been!

It was to this scene that Cory came in and once he got a good look at Lucas? Well, he couldn't help but to say the first thing that came to mind. "Now Mr. Friar, its usually in college when teenagers really start to experiment. But hey, to each their own."

Lucas looked at him in complete shock over that one! Mr. Matthews' words had made Maya and the others laugh even harder and this time Riley couldn't help but giggle a bit too over it. "This was NOT my idea Mr. Matthews! Those two girls Maya knows in the subway did this!"

"Which… Ha ha! Girls!?"

"Uhh.. Gretchen and Aria I think her name is?" Was the situation not so flippin' embarrassing, Lucas would have been stunned by the fact Maya had just talked to him!

"Ha ha! I am so gonna.. Ha ha! Have to thank them for this!" Got out the girl happily as this was perhaps even better then what she did with the Smoothie truck the previous night!

Once things calmed down and Lucas had thankfully been able to change out of his clothes because the girls had stuffed his clothing into his backpack with the stern warning he was only allowed to do so once Maya saw him, things were able to get back to normal. Well, as normal as can be anyway with a group of friends at odds and the very clear image of him in a dress anyway. A certain Blonde Beauty wondered though if Jerkleberry was intending to get back at her and was somewhat paranoid by the time lunch rolled around. But it wouldn't be him she'd have to worry about as it would turn out. No, it'd be Missy Bradford herself when the girl would come up to her and start yelling at her. "YOU! How dare you do that to ME! Do you not know who I am!?"

"Some pink wearing banshee?"

A glare was sent her way, not that she cared. "I am Missy Bradford and I am better then you can ever HOPE to be!"

"Aww, its nice that you have ambitions like that Pinkie."

Lucas tried to defuse the situation but Missy wasn't having any of it and pushed him away and into an open seat. "Now that wasn't very nice." Mocked Maya and Missy sneered at her.

"Nice? You wanna see nice you little pauper? How about this!?" The pink wearing girl grabbed a nearby sloppy joe and took the top bun off and smeared the goods onto one of the shirts Shawn had bought for Maya.

The blonde girl looked down in shock at the smeered food on her shirt and gave off a shudder of annoyance. This was one of her favorite shirts and no way in heck was she going to let this go! Grabbing another sloppy joe, she took the bun off and rubbed it right into Missy's face in quick fashion before the girl could do anything. The girl let out a scream of rage and attempted to tackle Maya but Lucas pulled her out of the way in time. "I really don't need your help." The girl told him and Lucas put his hands up defensively.

Missy charged at her again and the two met each other head on. Though Maya was trying her best to keep the girl at arm's length since she had no desire to really fight the girl and get in serious trouble for it. But the freakin' hair pulling was getting to be a bit much in her view even as she tried to push the girl away and was honestly surprised when Riley grabbed on to Missy to try and pull her away. "LET GO OF ME!"

"Even if we aren't talking, she's still my best friend and sister!" Shouted back Riley and Lucas got involved to help Riley pull Missy away.

It took a few more students and a teacher or two to get the two girls to pull apart and Lucas even had to catch Missy in midair as she tried to jump at Maya. The action sent him to the ground and a screaming girl right in his face for his troubles. Thankfully that didn't last long due in part to Darby and Yindra pulling her off while a line was made between her and Maya to keep the two apart. Mr. Matthews took Missy to the office to be dealt with and would come back for his surrogate daughter later when she wouldn't be in the office at the same time to avoid further conflict. "Next time Friar, choose your dates better." Maya told him annoyedly before walking away to try and clean off her shirt with Riley following along in the hopes she might get her to talk with her.

Missy would get suspended for several days while Maya would get a week of after school detentions due to her part with the slopppy joe in the face. The two would develop something of a strong dislike towards one another and Lucas made darn sure to keep his distance from Missy as he wanted nothing to do with her. Mr. Matthews admitted to Maya at one point that he was even proud of her for attempting to not fight back even if she had rubbed food in the girl's face and later told her that he hoped things would get better between her and the others fairly soon. And the Blonde Beauty could only admit it to herself but she kind of hoped for it too as it was sucky being without all of her friends. But the anger and hurt she felt was a huge factor in all of that for her however.

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 **Author's Notes: That catfight probably sucked but I kinda doubt Maya would want to wind up in serious trouble for fighting though. Course I could always be wrong. Hopefully the amount of time since New Year's that has passed is also believable as well. Hoped though you guys enjoyed the chapter and I look forward to your thoughts! Up next: We see how Riley's view of things in how she's been coping. R and R!**


	6. Trip To Rileytown

**Chapter 6**

 **Trip To Rileytown**

 **Disclaimer: As always I own nothing but what you see here. And today I learned Darby's a singer, so yay for learning that tidbit! And now, on with the show!**

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 **January 23rd, 2016 Saturday in the Matthews' Apartment 3:05 PM**

Life for Riley Matthews had honestly been a downpour of rain with no end in sight in her view. Out of her core group of friends, only Farkle and Zay were really even speaking with her after the horrible way things had ended on New Year's Eve at her party. And Riley was wishing with all heart that she could go back and somehow change things so that things wouldn't be as bad as they are now as she hated it a lot. Friends shouldn't be like this with one another but unfortunately they were and she had no idea how to handle it. Lucas yelling at her to move out of his way after that argument with Maya and then giving Farkle a black eye was something she wanted to have some words with him over but so far he refused to give her a chance to talk. His actions from that night just went against everything she thought she knew about him and it was as bad as the time when Zay first came to their school and rocked her view point on her first crush.

To be honest, after that all had settled down, she had felt a slight case of resentment towards Zay for rocking things but after being around him in the time afterwards, that resentment had gone away and she was happy for it as the guy was a genuinely great and funny guy. The fact he held and soothed her that night of the party was just another reason to see him as a great friend to have in one's life. Riley finally decided it was time to talk with her parents about all this to try and get some kind of perspective about the whole thing and what she could do next. She easily found her dad and Uncle Shawn in the living room watching a recording of the previous weekend's showing of El Locos Wrestling which could usually be seen aired on a local access channel. Something she wrinkled her nose at in distaste as wrestling was definitely not something she cared too much for. "Hey daddy, can we talk?"

Muting the tv instantly, Cory gave his attention to his daughter as he had a feeling he knew what this was going to be about. Shawn likewise was looking her way as well. "Sure sweetie, what's on your mind?"

"Its about New Year's and all that went down."

"You know, I've nearly gone after that kid several times with a shovel by now? But I always get talked out of it." Shawn said with a frown on his face.

Riley gave a frown of her own to her uncle. "Uncle Shawn! That's not how you should handle a situation!"

He just shrugged at her. "Hey, he made someone I care about cry and I don't like that one bit." He told her unapologetically.

"Well I don't like it either but I know that hurting him isn't the answer. Actually, that's the only answer I even have..."

"What do you mean by that honey?" Even though Cory felt he had a pretty good idea of what she was talking about.

"What I mean is, I want all of my friends to be talking with one another again! Yet, I have no idea how to even really do that when both Maya and Lucas won't even speak to one another or with me. Not to mention what happened between Farkle and Lucas." Said the girl as she quickly grew frustrated.

"Sometimes, things take time to get better and this is likely one of those times. If you try and force the issue, its likely to make things even worse."

"He's right, we got lucky back in college after our own little group argument." Added Shawn with a nod.

Riley being Riley, knew what her uncle was referring too since she'd been told the story. But she had doubts about her having a dream like uncle Eric did to help fix things. "So basically… I can either hope things get better in its own time or that somehow lightning will strike twice and it'll bring us all back together again."

The young girl wasn't a big fan of those two options but the last thing she wanted to do was make things even worse. "Pretty much, maybe if you were even to try and start out one piece at a time it could work in that way too before working towards the main overall thing. Say start with Maya, which you know, would be the proper thing to do as you two are the best of friends." Cory told her.

That only honestly sounded good to Riley but how she would do that was beyond her though. But it would be something to think about for sure. Shawn had a lightbulb go off his head at that moment and ran with it. "So I've got a question for you kiddo. What is it exactly you even like about this Lucas kid? Especially if he's such a big pivotal part of this whole problem in your group."

"I like that he's nice, friendly, and that we tend to agree on a lot of things. Oh! And that he wants to be a Veterinarian when he's older after giving birth to a baby horse."

The two best friends looked at one another with looks of concern on their faces. Something that Riley was a bit concerned about herself. "What? What's wrong?"

"Riley..." Began Cory hesitantly, unsure of what to say exactly.

Shawn however seemed to not have that issue. "So that's it? There's nothing else about him?"

"He's my first crush?"

Looks of concern were shared again and it made her even more worried after that. "It seems to me… That you don't even really know the guy. And probably why that short lived relationship of yours went like it did." Shawn said, glad he'd been told of that whole mess awhile back and Cory couldn't help but agree with that.

"But there was pressure involved in all that! And it just made things so awkward!"

"You two were already awkward to begin with after that first date you two had last year. So maybe… Maybe it wasn't so much everyone else pressuring you guys but you two having absolutely no idea how to handle everything." Which Cory felt was probably half his fault and half how things could get for teenagers when they start to get into that sort of thing.

Riley was beginning to get real worried that her father had a really good point about her and Lucas. She felt she really liked him and him being her first crush was a huge deal for her after all the stories she'd been told. But various events in her life that also involved Charlie Gardner, New Year's, and her now coming to realize she apparently didn't have anymore she could think to add about what she knew and liked about Lucas made her realize made her doubt everything in a big way. "I'm… I'm confused..." Admitted the girl.

Cory got up and gave her a hug. "It seems to me you really need to take awhile to really think about all this before you do anything else sweetie. You need to learn that not all first crushes are meant to last. And that having a limited view point of a person without really knowing more about them is not the best way to have any kind of relationship with anyone. "

"He's right, your mom and dad are a very rare occurrence to happen. Angela certainly wasn't my first crush."

Riley pulled away with shock written all over her face and Cory knew he'd just rocked his little girl's world. But it had to be done if she was ever going to get past her view point of Lucas. The view point of that of a Mr. Perfect and that was something Lucas Friar definitely was not. "I realize now that your mother and I unknowingly gave you certain expectations about life and I can only hope that mistake won't hurt things for you in the long term." But he had hope that with her being young and still growing and learning, that it wouldn't hurt anything in the end.

"I think… I think I need to go and think about all this..."

She walked away slowly in a daze as she tried to process everything that had just been said to her. _I… I don't even really know Lucas do I?_ That conversation in the library from a year ago felt like it barely mattered now in the long run.

Cory and Shawn looked at the girl in concern and both hoped things would get figured out for her. And that she and her friends would be able to re-unite sooner rather then later. "And to think, we thought we had it rough back in the day." Mused Cory thoughtfully.

A huff of laughter escaped Shawn after that. "Life, it's a tough one." Cory nodded at that and the two got back to watching the show. Though it was hard to enjoy all that much as the conversation with Riley weighed a great deal on their minds.

* * *

 **Author's Notes: Hope the way I handled that was done well. If not, at least I tried! Up next? I'm not too sure to be honest. Its a toss up between a chapter on a Shawn and Katy date, some happenings with Eric, or Riley attempting to make amends with Lucas or Maya. We'll see when the time comes, I imagine though its gonna be a few days before I get to that as I'm planning to focus on some Arrow/Flash content and perhaps something for Girl Meets Possibilities at some point. Anyways… R and R!**


	7. Date Night

**Chapter 7**

 **Date Night**

 **Disclaimer: Wow, the feedback for this has been underwhelming and I have no idea if its cause of the drama or the lack of relationships or what but damn. Makes it nearly not even worth doing this story anymore. Anyways, here's a little break from it all featuring Shawn and Katy on a date. Oh, and as always I own nothing.**

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 **February 5th, 2016 8:00 PM Hart Apartment**

There was a frenzy of activity in the Hart apartment as one Katy Hart was getting some last minute details finalized for her big date out with Shawn that night. Who was due any second now actually and Katy had to say it was nice that he was around more after finally deciding to settle down in the city. Something that had made a whole lot of people happy for that matter and she and her daughter were definitely two of those people. Of course his being around more meant seeing more of the epic 'bromance' he has with Cory. Which took a little getting used too but at least she had Topanga's support to rely on with that. "Geez mom, calm down would ya? Hunter probably wouldn't even care if you went out in a sack with him." Remarked Maya from the couch in sweat pants, a pair of socks, and a black sweater that had a subway in the middle and the words 'Dark Half' on top and 'Eat Flesh' on the bottom.

A sweater she never wore around Riley as she no doubt knew the girl would freak the heck out over it. Heck, she was halfway tempted to wear it to school just to see what reactions she would get but so far hadn't done it as she always forgot about it a majority of the time. Katy paused in her frantic pace to give her daughter that patented mom look before speaking. "I can't do that baby girl! He's taking us out somewhere really nice and I want to look as good as I can!"

Oh why couldn't that man just tell her where they were going!? Sure it was their sixth date and all but still more details then 'somewhere nice' would have been ideal! As it is, most of their dates so far had either been dinners or going to things she enjoyed and it had been really nice. No question about that but a part of her wanted to try doing things he enjoyed and had even mentioned it to him at one point. But so far nothing had come of that just yet but a girl like herself could wait for the time to happen. Maya rolled her eyes at her mom's response as she finally finished getting ready. And in the young girl's view, her mom was gonna knock the socks off of Hunter with how good she was looking. Granted, it was very likely it happened several times already but it never hurt to happen again.

A knock was then heard at the door and Maya quickly got up to open it. Revealing one Shawn Hunter who was dressed in all black and red and looking quite dashing in Katy's eyes once she saw him. Maya let out a whistle of her own. "Not bad Hunter, not bad at all."

"Well thank you kiddo, I certainly like to try." He told her with a smile as he came inside.

He then gave an apologetic smile to Katy once the door was closed. "Sorry for running a little late, I didn't think to take the elevator and Cory happened."

The girls nodded and no further explanation was needed when it came to Cory Matthews. Days after his moving into that apartment, Maya's teacher was still so crazily over the moon about him living close by now much to Topanga's exasperation. Katy walked over to her man and kissed him, something he was happy to return in favor. The sight was something that made Maya smile at and seconds later they broke away with dopey smiles on their faces. It honestly made the Blonde Beauty wonder if she was ever going to experience something like that and the thought of Lucas briefly came to mind, along with the pang of hurt over what had happened between the two of them. "Now Hunter, don't keep my mom out too late alright?" Mock warned the young teen.

Shawn saluted her with a smile. "Aye aye Captain, not a minute past 12:00!"

He got a satisfied nod in return afterwards and Katy couldn't help but roll her eyes in amusement at the two. A little more small talk filled with teasing occurred before the couple left, leaving Maya alone in the front room as Gammy Hart was in her room doing whatever she normally did. A part of Maya felt a pang in her heart as she wished she could have had Riley here to share this moment with. She was really starting to miss her best friend if she was being honest with herself. A part of her also couldn't deny missing a certain Huckleberry either…

 **Around an Hour and a Half Later at the Bowery Poetry Club**

Katy could honestly admit she was greatly surprised that Shawn had brought her to a poetry place of all places. But then she remembered his gift to Amy and Alan Matthews and a talk with him they'd had later that night. She was glad they were going to something he liked and had learned that one of his work colleagues had told him about this place and decided to make their current date not only her's, but his first visit there. And so far it was a great experience in getting to hear all the poetry there. It was agreed they would come back here on the next Open Mic night as she wanted to hear him recite some of his poetry. Little did she know she'd get to hear some after they left the Club as it left him in a bit of a poetic mood.

And honestly? The guy was making her blush like crazy with some of his poems! But she loved every bit of it and she felt like she was falling even more for the man who cared so much for her and her daughter. "The sparkling of your eyes, almost like that of a jewel in the right light, makes the very breath in my chest take pause at its beauty." He told her as he looked into her eyes as they held hands by his vehicle.

She leaned in and happily kissed him. "Sweet talker." She muttered seconds later against his lips as their foreheads rested against one another's.

He smiled against her lips, happy to have met this amazing woman thanks to certain schemers he knew. But he'd never trade it for anything in the world that was for sure. "What can I say? You and damn good poetry make me inspired."

They shared another sweet and tender kiss as he moved his hands to hold her at her sides and she moved hers to wrap around his neck. "I love you Katy Hart."

His soft spoken words surprised her greatly but the waitress/actress couldn't help but feel elated to hear it and she showed just how happy she was when she kissed him soundly. "I love you too Shawn Hunter." She told him just as softly.

Soon afterwards, they reluctantly parted and he opened the car door for her to get inside and he soon got into the driver seat afterwards. Their next destination was to Met's Roof Garden Cafe and Martini Bar before they eventually found themselves in his apartment. Thankfully this time they had taken the elevator to his floor. And what happened next was nobody else's business but their own. An action that was long in the making as they'd yet to take that step until now due to his previous lifestyle. Katy would return home around noon the next day with a very pleased smile on her face and would endure some playful teasing from Maya afterwards but she didn't mind it one bit. As last night had been absolutely wonderful and she couldn't wait for what came next for her and Shawn.

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 **Author's Notes: May there have been much enjoyment of this one! Up next: A little resolution is at hand, but it doesn't come easy.**


	8. A Little Resolution Is At Hand

**Chapter 8**

 **A Little Resolution**

 **Is At Hand**

 **Disclaimer: Well its been awhile since I updated this. Many thanks to the guest known as A for the encouraging words sent my way regarding this story. Anyways, let's bring on the action!**

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 **February 10th, 2016 Wednesday 4:00 PM in the Art Classroom**

Maya surprisingly enough was still at the John Adams Middle School, working on a little art project of her's for one of the group functions the city had for art that Mrs. Kossal had awesomely gotten her involved with. This also helped to keep her mind off of things involving her group of friends. So engrossed was she in her work that she failed to notice Riley and Farkle come into the room and lock the classroom door. The two had decided that now was a good time to try and talk to their friend in the hopes it would help restore a little of the normalcy in their group of friends. And even though it'd been a few days since her mom's date with Shawn, her mom was still in high spirits. Though Maya had the feeling that was more to do with the fact Hunter was able to be around more often now a days. "Maya?" Came the hesitant voice of Riley, making Maya freeze in her motions.

"What?" She asked with a sigh as she turned to look at the brunette and realized she had Farkle with her as well.

"Can we talk? Please?"

"About what exactly?"

 _Ohh she's not gonna make this easy._ Thought Farkle to himself.

Riley came a little closer to Maya before speaking up again. "About everything going on lately. Us not talking since New Year's… I don't like it and I want things to be okay with all of us again like it used to be…"

She had learned her lesson about listening to the wishes of others and she'd do whatever she had to in order to prove it. Riley could only hope her best friend and sister in all but blood would let her do it. "Hate to break it to ya, but there's always something that's going on that someone out in the world doesn't like. Something they probably can't do much about." Maya told her with a shrug of the shoulders over this little fact of life.

"And things can never go back to how they were before either after what's happened."

Riley didn't believe that and told Maya as much. "Don't be naive! To try and go back to what we had before would be to ignore what's happened. And it wouldn't teach us anything at all!"

Well… Riley and Farkle had to admit Maya had a point there. "You're right Maya, our recent experiences would only be devalued if we tried to ignore it."

"I have my moments Dr. Farklestien."

"I never thought otherwise!" Protested the genius as he walked up to her.

She gave him a look for that one which left him slightly confused. "Oh? And your apparent belief that I don't really know how I feel doesn't say the opposite?"

He blanched at that while Riley was looking very uncomfortable with the direction things were going in. The Blonde Artist smirked at the young genius. "Yeah, next time you two wanna talk about someone, make sure the door is actually… You know… Closed."

"I'm… I'm sorry."

Maya scoffed at him over that one. "Sorry for being caught?"

"No! For making assumptions about you without actually consulting you like I should have."

Honesty and remorse could be heard in his voice, causing Maya to actually have reason to believe him. "Yeah, keep that in mind for the future Farkle." She gave a pointed look at Riley to convey a similar message and the girl quickly understood.

"I promise you Maya, that I will do my best to respect what you want in the future. Just please, please give us another chance. I understand what you were telling me that night so much better now." Never again would she speak on certain matters unless given the okay to do so. Gaining their disappointment with her over otherwise was not something Riley really ever wanted to do again in her lifetime.

Though she had a feeling something like it was bound to happen in some way regardless of her intentions. Maya regarded her for a moment before speaking. "I will accept your promise and even forgive you, if you also swear to NEVER use my home life as examples for arguments or jokes ever again. That crap hurts and I seriously do NOT deserve that."

Riley winced as she hadn't ever realized that and felt horrible. She quickly assured her best friend she wouldn't do that again while hoping she would be able to live up to that. Farkle was also quick to make the same promise as well even though he'd never been one to make light of her situation. Silence reined in the classroom between the three teens with two of them hoping they could move forward while having their friendship restored. Maya honestly was tired of being apart from them and she knew that eventually a talk with Lucas was going to have to happen if they were going to really restore the group, but she didn't think she could handle that just yet as there was still so much pain from his actions that night. She could only hope that Riley and even Farkle could hold to their word or she would never be able to trust them again in any way.

"We can't go back, but we can move forward." Was all she finally said and it was more then enough for Riley and Farkle to realize that she was giving them another chance.

The two rushed her and pulled her into a group hug, relieved they were getting another chance with their blonde best friend and talented artist. They weren't sure what would happen next as Farkle still had his own issues with Lucas much like Maya did, along with Riley as well. But hopefully… Hopefully things would be really okay again.

* * *

 **Author's Notes: Hopefully this is seen as believable and if not, I apologize. My inspiration for GMW has been lacking lately and I still feel that Bay Window could have been A LOT better then what we got. I still haven't even seen the season finale yet for various reasons. Up Next: The Trio is back, Lucas quickly takes notice and feels even more horrible then before, and Zay finds himself curious over what Corn Chip Dave is up too. R and R!**


	9. A Corn Chip Mystery

**Chapter 9**

 **A Corn**

 **Chip Mystery**

 **Disclaimer: I own nothing but what you see here.**

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 **February 21st, 2016 Monday**

After the reconcillation between Riley, Farkle, and Maya, life had seemingly gotten more of a positive vibe flowing about at John Quincy Adams Middle School since their reunion. One that had made a lot of people happy as a good trio of friends like that definitely belonged together rather than apart. Though one particular person was a little bummed over the whole thing since he had yet to reconcile with any of them just yet. Though he had certainly tried but it never seemed to work out like he wanted. That person being Lucas Friar who was currently leaning up against some lockers as he watched the three doing whatever with wide smiling faces a depressed look on his face. A slap on his shoulder drew him out of his trio watching and he turned to see Zay shaking his head at him. "Man, you really gotta quit lookin' at them like you're a lost puppy."

"I'm not!" Protested Lucas even though Zay was pretty much on the money about it.

Zay gave him a look like he didn't believe him and the blonde Texan repeated himself again that he wasn't. "Dude, you are lookin' at them like a lost puppy. Just go over there and get them to talk to you."

"Easy for you to say Zay, you're not the one havin' problems with them."

"That's cause I know not to treat my friends like crap."

Lucas looked down in shame over that and Zay quickly muttered out an apology for making him feel bad. "No, you're right. I did treat them like crap and now I gotta pay the price for it." If only he could go back in time and stop himself from being such an idiot!

The young Texan then walked off for his next class, no longer wanting to see the happy trio and Zay was about to follow him when Dave came by carrying tubes and rolled up wiring. Leaving for a very confused Zay as he wondered what the heck the guy was doing! And it seemed no one else was paying much attention for that matter either! He was about to follow when the bell rang, making him snap his fingers in annoyance. "Ah, I'll just ask him later."

Later as it turned out wouldn't be until later that week during Friday. And young Zay had certainly seen a whole lot of weird when it came to Dave. The fact no one seemed to be really even paying attention annoyed him a great deal! He'd even asked his friends about it but none of them seemed to think much of it. Lucas even thought his buddy was just seeing things brought on by the stress of not seeing Vanessa much thanks to the distance between them. Earning himself an eyeroll from his fellow Texan in the process. But on Friday, Zay decided to stay after school since he had it on good authority that Dave was staying after for some unknown reason through out the week and the teenager figured it would be his chance to see what the heck was going on! Hiding within a trash can, Zay watched as Dave made his way down the hallway with more wiring and several long white boxes.

"Alright Lord of the Corn Chips, what are you up too?"

Watching as his fellow classmate stopped at a door and setting down the wiring to knock on it, Dave quickly made his way inside after it opened. Making Zay frown as he quickly got out of the trash can. Completely oblivious to the fact he had a banana peeling on his shoulder. Coming to it, he saw that the door Dave had gone in was the Janitor's closet. Looking down both sides of the hallway to ensure no one else was coming, he grabbed hold of the door knob and rushed inside. "AH HA!"

His sudden appearance and voice made Dave and Janitor Harley jump, along with dropping what they were doing. "Holy crap! Kid, I think you just scared off ten years of my life." Groused Harley with a hand on his chest as he calmed down.

"Zay? What are you doing man?"

A smirk came on Zay's face as he sauntered up to the two with his hands clasped together in front of him. "What am I doin'? What am I doin' you ask? I think the question is… What are YOU two doin'? Which, you know, is a more pressing question here then my bein' here."

The two looked at one another, unsure of what to do. "Uhh… Well we were putting some things in storage for a later time." Dave finally answered.

"Yep, Chippie here's been helpin' me out the past week. And let tell you somethin', he's been a real big help for me." He would have gotten Lucas to help out but the kid had been way too depressed over the situation with his friends to do much.

He'd been surprised when Dave approached him about helping out and seeing what had been presented to him through a miracle, quickly enlisted the boy to the Janitorial Cause. A cause so vital in the day to day operations of the very school they were still inside of. "Uh-huh. So basically, if what you are sayin' is right… I've been kind of… You know, paranoid for nothin' then?"

A nod from Harley happened after that. "Pretty much kid."

"Well I guess this explains why nobody thought it was weird!"

"Lucas and sometimes Farkle usually are the ones who help out Janitor Harley since last year. Soooo yeah… Nobody but you thought it was weird."

Zay looked thoughtful for a moment as he digested all that. "Huh… Well alrighty then." And with that, he was gone as he mentally smacked himself for thinking something that obviously wasn't the case at all.

Harley and Dave just watched him before looking at one another. "Kid's been hangin' around Matthews and her bunch way too long." The older man finally said with a shrug of the shoulders, making Dave laugh. The two then got back to work on organizing the storage areas.

 **Matthews' Apartment Around Two Hours Later**

After getting home from school, Riley had gone to her room to quickly start on homework so that she'd have it out of the way with little worries for the rest of the night where it was concerned. Though part of the reason she quickly started it was so that she could keep her mind off the fact that things still weren't fully okay between her group of friends. Yeah, things were great now between her, Maya, Farkle, and Zay thankfully. But the lack of Lucas in it all just really sucked. She could tell he wanted to talk with them but life it seemed just wasn't allowing it. Something she really wasn't liking at all and all her mom and dad would say is that sometimes one had to wait for the right moment to happen as some things just couldn't be rushed. But for Riley Matthews, this was definitely something she wished could be rushed as she wanted all her friends back together again. Why she herself had yet to approach him about the whole thing she wasn't sure of and Auggie had chalked it up to her being afraid over it.

Why she was afraid she wasn't sure of entirely but she felt like she was lying to herself over that anytime she thought about it. Once she'd gotten her homework done and grabbed a snack, the young Matthews girl laid on her bed and listened to music while she browsed the internet on her phone. And still feeling very glad that her bully was still no longer bothering her as that had been a really horrible time for her. Thankfully she had her friends to support her once the truth about it all had come out. But she couldn't help but wonder if the bully would try again once she got her courage back. Riley hated to think about that but it sometimes came up in her thoughts until she forced it down. Her mom coming inside made her pause her music to see what was up.

"Riley, sweetheart, there's someone here to see you."

That made her curious since Farkle and Maya would just show up through her window. But Farkle was off with Smackle and Maya was at a thing for art. "Oh? Who?"

"Me." Came the voice of one Lucas Austin Friar as he stepped up next to her mom. Riley's eyes went wide as she definitely wasn't expecting him of all people!

Topanga just smiled and left as she had a feeling, a hopeful one that things would get patched up between her daughter and Lucas. "Wow, um… What brings you by Lucas?"

Walking up to her bed with a hopeful look on his face as he looked around at the room he hadn't been inside of for quite some time. Turning his attention back to her with that hopeful look still on his face, he spoke up. "I was hopin' that you and I could finally talk."

Oh, well color her surprised!

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 **Author's Notes: May there have been much enjoyment of this one! I think after things are fully resolved between the group that I may end this. Even though I had a very long term plan for this story that would likely go to 50 chapters. But my motivation for it has been lacking very strongly for some time now where this story is concerned and the last thing I want to do is keep making you all wait for more updates due to my lack of motivation. I had planned for things between Lucas and Maya to improve around the time of her birthday/graduation but since that's not until around June where the graduation is concerned, I figured doing that would make it unbelievable where their making up is concerned.**

 **So I may do that sooner then planned. If any thoughts on all this, hit me with them!**


	10. When Dreamers Re-Unite

**Chapter 10**

 **When Dreamers**

 **Re-Unite**

 **Disclaimer: I own nothing but what you see here. I think I'm just gonna keep on going with this even with the lack of support for it. There's too much I wanna do with this so why not.**

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Oh yes, Riley Matthews was definitely surprised by the fact Lucas had shown up and wanted to speak with her. Which in her opinion was about gosh darned time! Though she was curious on why he hadn't gone to Farkle or Maya first and even asked him about it. "Cause, I felt it was best to approach you first. Figured if things went well here, it'd mean things could hopefully go well with those two." At least that's his thinking anyway.

Riley had to hand it to him as that was some nice thinking. "Well, its something to try!" Offered the girl, earning herself a small smile from the boy.

"So that mean you'll give me a chance then?"

She gave a nod as it was the least she could do as hopefully this would lead to the entire group being together again and he let out a sigh of relief. "Look… That night on the rooftop… The way I handled things wasn't right and I sorely wish I could go back and change what I did." Began the boy guiltily as he looked down and clenched his fists.

"But you can't, and now you can only move forward with the hope of things getting better again. Which I have hope that it will." She told him as she approached him and placed a hand on his shoulder.

Making him look up at him in shock as he hadn't expected that at all. "It wasn't right for me to yell at ya just as it wasn't right for me to treat Maya like I did. Or for me to give Farkle that black eye."

Letting out a sigh, he continued on. "I was just so darned angry and hurt by that kiss ya know? I thought somethin' was happenin' between us. That it meant that maybe she was movin' on from your uncle. Now I ain't got a clue about nothin'."

Riley's heart broke for her friend even as she wondered why she wasn't feeling more hurt by the fact he felt something was forming between him and her best friend and sister in all but blood. Which, if life could go her way, would be an actual thing! "I came here though to hopefully get forgiveness from ya, but I understand if you ain't willin' cause of my yellin' at ya."

He looked down again, afraid of what her response would be and would find himself surprised yet again when she hugged him. If it wasn't for the shock he felt, he may have hugged her back but a part of him sagged in relief when he realized that the hug meant she did in fact forgive him. She puled away and saw the look on his face and smiled at him. "Does this mean what I think it does?"

Riley cocked her head to the side with that smile still on her lips. "Duh!" Replied the girl happily and making him breathe a sigh of relief.

"Oh thank God!" Voiced the young man in a relieved tone of voice.

Knowing Riley had forgiven him felt like a weight had been lifted up a bit from him and it felt pretty nice. Though he knew that in order for it to fully lift, he would need to gain Farkle and Maya's forgiveness as well. Lucas had honestly thought it'd be harder to get Riley's forgiveness but was glad it wasn't, though it did give him the feeling that Maya most likely would be the hardest one of them all. The former Texan was greatly surprised next when Riley grabbed him by the face and kissed him. Making for his eyes to go wide in the process as he hoped like crazy that her father didn't come in here while this was going on! As he definitely didn't want to lose yet another boot to him! The kiss didn't last long though and Riley pulled away with a slight frown on her face. "Huh..."

"Umm… That a good huh or a bad huh? Also… Why'd ya do that!?" Asked the freaked teenager.

"Well its a good huh in the sense that the kiss was nice, but a bad huh cause I didn't really feel anything like I thought I would."

Lucas was surprised by that if also a little relieved considering his feelings for Maya. "Well, then again it could be a good huh instead of a bad one."

She then gave him a mischevious smile after that. "As for why I kissed you? Well… Every other girl has kissed you recently so I thought why not add to it!"

He gave off a nervous chuckle over that as he was really and seriously hoping her dad wasn't in hearing distance of all this! "Technically, its only been two girls. Not uhh, ya know, a lot of girls. Cause that would make me a player or somethin' and I'm not like that. I mean, I probably could be but I don't want too! I swear!"

Riley just gave him a look. "Right, shutting up."

"Good boy!" He stuck his tongue out at her, making her giggle over it.

Stepping up to her with a concerned look on his face, he asked her the question on his mind. "This whole not feelin' things where I'm concerned, that's not gonna cause issues to spring up again is it?"

A shake of the head was his answer. "Of course not young Lucas! All is good in the land of Rileyville! Now… Once you're done here you must venture forth to ye old Farkle and make with the forgiveness!"

The boy she once crushed on gave her a bewildered look over that. "Um… You're not wantin' to hang out or somethin' for a bit first? Cause I kinda thought ya might want too if things went pretty well and all." Okay, so yeah, maybe he was stalling a little since he was nervous about talking to Farkle.

"And we will! But only after you've managed to make up with Farkle and Maya." Crap! Seems Riley knew it too!

"Ya do realize that Maya's gonna be harder to talk with then attemptin' to tame ol' Cain right?"

"All things worth anything are always hard, its just a matter of how much you're willing to fight for it."

Well, he had to admit she has a point there! The two shared another hug before Lucas walked out, happy for things to have gone so well between him and Riley. As for Riley, she herself sat down at the edge of her bed. Slightly confused but also happy to know where her feelings were now when it came to one Lucas Friar. Reaching for her cell phone, she hit the call button after finding one particular number and after a few rings, she spoke up once the other end answered. "Hey! Can we talk?"

* * *

 **Author's Notes: The kiss is something I consider as one of the big moments for this story. Although I had imagined it going slightly different when the two finally talked about the whole forgiveness thing. But I think this works. And just who is it she called at the end there? Have to wait and see!**


	11. The Texan And The Scientist

**Chapter 11**

 **The Texan**

 **And**

 **The Scientist**

 **Disclaimer: I own nothing but what you see here! How about that promo for season 3 eh? June feels so far away o.0. Also, many thanks to A for the guest review, it is appreciated! Now… Let's roll on!**

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Lucas Friar hurried as quickly as he could to the apartment complex Farkle's family owned after leaving Riley's. Hoping like crazy this would turn out as well as it had between him and Riley. He was still surprised by how well it had even gone, not to mention the kiss! Though he was glad that kiss showed Riley that there wasn't really anything more between the two of them as the last thing he needed was more issues between himself and the girls. Once thankfully making it to the apartment complex, he rode the elevator that he was glad was working as it would have been a pain in the butt to have to use the stairs! The young man fidgeted as he leaned up against the back wall of the elevator while it played crap music and when the doors opened with a ding, he made his way out feeling more and more nervous with each step. Even sweating as he reached the front door of the Minkus family. Gulping, he rang the doorbell once and waited for it to open.

And it wasn't long before Stuart Minkus himself dressed in casual clothing appeared at the door. "Ah, Mr. Friar, a surprise to see you here at my home. I hope you're not here to give my son another black eye? Cause I can assure you that if that's the case, you can turn around right now."

His tone was in no way friendly and Lucas wasn't all that surprised by it considering his actions that night of the party. "Uhh, no sir! I'm not, I'm not here for that at all. I promise."

"Oh, then why are you here?"

"To apologize sir."

Stuart looked greatly surprised by that. "Oh, well that is certainly not what I expected to be honest." Admitted the man and Lucas couldn't help but wonder about that.

"Sir, I realize you probably don't believe me, but all I'm askin' for is the chance to do this. Its long over due and I've greatly come to regret doin' what I did that night of the party."

The sincerity in his voice spoke to Stuart and the man nodded a few seconds later. "Very well Mr. Friar, I will allow you entrance to my home. I must admit that despite my surprise to this whole thing, I'm greatly pleased that you are making this attempt as you are perhaps one of the few true friends my son has and I know it hasn't exactly been easy for him in recent times since that party."

Lucas looked down in shame as he came in, only to have a hand squeeze his shoulder in comfort by Farkle's father. "Hey, I didn't say any of that to make you feel bad Mr. Friar. My apologies for unintentionally doing so." He gave a nod of understanding to that and felt a little better.

Stuart then informed him that Farkle is in his room and the young man started to make his way there until he was stopped by Mrs. Farkle. Making him take a step back at the sight of her. "Well, well. Look who finally decided to show up." Spoke the woman as she looked at him as if she were judging him.

If Stuart was protective of his son, his wife was even more so! "Um… Yes ma'am." Replied the young Texan nervously.

"Jennifer." Called out Stuart warningly and causing her to pout at him. "For the record young man, should something like this ever happen again. There won't be any place for you to hide. Get me?"

A frantic fast paced nod came from him and she nodded in satisfaction as he inched away from her and towards Farkle's bedroom door. "I got… I got ya ma'am. I can see why Mr. Matthews was so afraid of ya back in the day." And then he hauled butt into Farkle's room, leaving a smirking Jennifer Minkus behind as Stuart came up next to her.

"Nice work wife of mine." Complimented the man with a smile.

She looked at him before wrapping her arms around his neck. "Why thank you husband of mine. Its good to know I still got it." Replied Jennifer cheerfully before kissing her husband.

Inside Farkle's room however was an entirely different story however as the young Friar felt like he'd just been a deer caught in someone's headlights. The fact Farkle and Smackle were looking at him wasn't helping matters any! The genius girl then strolled up to him with her arms crossed. "Why hello there Lucas. What ever brings you by here? I trust its not to try and steal me away from Farkle as I have no interest in you like that."

Farkle hid a grin at that while Lucas just gaped at her in shock. "I'm… I'm not tryin' to steal ya from anybody Smackle!"

She cocked her head to the side, making him get the feeling she didn't exactly buy that. "If that is true, then why are you here?"

"Well, mostly cause I need ta speak with Farkle about somethin' important."

"And that would be?"

"Actions related to that night at the party ma'am. I'm here in the hopes Farkle will be willin' ta accept an apology from me."

"Hmm, I must admit to rather liking being called 'ma'am'. Plus I feel that you have certainly taken your time in bringing forth an apology to my Farkle. Your actions that night and the delay in apologies has made you considerably less desirable in my eyes. And in the eyes of other girls as well."

Lucas wasn't about to ask how she even figured that as that was a road he wasn't willing to travel down just yet. "Well… Happy to please Smackle, happy to please. But umm, could ya give me and Farkle the room please?"

She was a bit unsure of that but a nod from Farkle was all she needed. "Sure, just don't ruin it alright?" He gave a nod to that and she left for the front room after he moved out of her way.

Once the two were alone, an uncomfortable silence reigned between the two as Farkle busied himself with various things in his room. "Soo..." Began Lucas and winced at the lame opening.

But Farkle ignored him in favor of his tinkering about with things. Lucas sighed as he left the door and came up to him. "Farkle." Called out the young man.

The genius paused in his work and even turned his head towards him before focusing again on his task. Making for the Texan native to frown a little. "Come on buddy, ya can't keep ignorin' me like this." Came his plea.

And if by magic, that made the boy genius turn around with an angry glare on his face. "Oh, but I can Friar! But I can! And calling me buddy? Really!? BUDDIES don't give one another black eyes!"

"I know that man! And I wish I had never done it!"

A scoff could be heard from the boy after that. "Wishing never got anyone anywhere as has been proven many, many times." Farkle sounded oddly bitter as he said that and it made Lucas wonder about that.

"True, but if I could go back and change what I did, I would in a heartbeat man. Ya hafta believe that." Tried the Texan earnestly.

"I know ya may not believe it, but I'm mighty sorry for punchin' ya. I'm sorry for a lot of things for that matter but punchin' ya is at the top of the list..."

Farkle wanted to just ignore the honesty and sincerity in the other boy's voice but he just couldn't. And he wasn't sure if he wanted to hate himself for that. "Punch me."

Those words made the boy genius look at Lucas in confusion. "Huh?"

"Ya heard me, I said punch me. If it helps ya forgive me then do it. Punch me!"

The look Farkle gave him gave the impression he thought him insane! "Uhh.. I'm not, I'm not doing that you freak of nature!"

Lucas merely gave him a mocking grin in return. "Oh come on Farkle, ya know ya want too! I bet ya thought about it a lot too. So come on, hit me."

Farkle just shook his head at him and had to back up as the Texan walked up to him with that infuriating grin on his face still present. "HIT ME!" Roared the boy and Farkle, tired of the whole thing did exactly that.

And right into the boy's stomach! "YEOW!" Yelled out Farkle as he bounced away in pain as he clutched his hand!

A look of amusement could be seen on Lucas' face as he watched his friend move around frantically as his parents and Smackle barreled into the room. "What the heck are you made of you freak!?"

Jennifer quickly dashed over to her boy who yelped in pain when she grabbed his throbbing hand. Stuart on the other hand was glaring hotly at Lucas. "Lucas!" Came the warning that heavily implied he needed to start talking then and there.

"I told him ta punch me and he did! That's all that happened, I swear!"

The man gave him a look, unsure of whether or not to believe that. Farkle however quickly informed him and his mother that that is exactly what happened. "I think you need to donate your body to Science as you are SERIOUSLY not normal!"

"I could have told you this myself Farkle, as Lucas has proven to be quite easy to the eyes for a number of girls including myself. Thus the current situation with Riley and Maya."

"Actually, things are good between Riley and me. I was there before I came over here. And there is no way I'm donatin' my body for anything!" No telling what those people would do!

Farkle pointed a finger at him. "Oh you will Friar! You will! I'll ensure it!"

The young man took a step back in slight fear as the genius probably would do it too in the future! "Exactly why did you want Farkle to punch you Lucas?" Asked a very curious Jennifer.

"Uhh… Well, I hit him, so him hittin' me only seemed fair."

Farkle's mother got a look of understanding on her face. "Well, not exactly how I would have handled it but hey, if it works? It works."

Lucas wisely kept his mouth shut about handcuffs as that story was pretty much known by now at this point. "Does this put things at a better position between you and Mr. Friar Farkle?" Stuart asked curiously.

The young man looked at the boy he considered to be a freak of nature as he gently rubbed his hand. "Hey, if needed, ya can hit me in the jaw if it'll help any." Offered up the Texan and surprising everyone.

"Yeah… I think I'll pass thank you." As no way did he want to hurt himself again!

Farkle then walked up to him with a determined expression on his face. "I forgive you Lucas, but know this… I will bury you in ways you can not comprehend if you ever do something like that again. Get me!?"

A frantic nod came from the Texan, making the genius happy. "Yes sir, loud and clear. Hittin' you is one of the worst things I've ever done." What he did to Maya however, was easily the top worst thing he ever did and hoped he'd be able to fix that mistake.

He then put his hand out for Farkle to shake on the whole thing, but then he was surprised when the other boy hugged him instead! When he pulled away, Lucas had to ask the immediate question on his mind. "Ya ain't gonna kiss me are ya?"

"What!? No! I am very much into girls thank you very much!"

The boy sagged in relief over that. "Oh thank God, that probably woulda made things real awkward." Replied Lucas.

Smackle then separated the two with a bit more distance with an intent expression on her face. Or at least in her mind anyway. "The only person who gets to touch the lips of Farkle Minkus is me. Not you or anyone else. Got it!?" Asked the girl and Lucas felt very afraid in that moment as he could see a fire in the girl's eyes behind those glasses of her's.

"Ma'am, yes ma'am! Absolutely no touchin' of the lips at all from me!" The girl genius gave a satisfied nod to that and then went to stand next to Farkle who put an arm around her, making for Smackle attempting to not freeze up or try and pull away due to her condition.

Lucas was just relieved though that things were better now between him and his genius best friend, even if it had happened in a rather unconventional way. He knew though the real true challenge would be Maya when the time came. Lucas would wind up spending several hours at the Minkus residence, making up for lost time with Farkle by chowing down on Pizza and playing video games like any other pair of boys their age normally would. Though he wasn't entirely sure any other pair of boys would be doing what he and Farkle were doing considering they just made up and all, but hey, that's just how life was when it came to him and his friends he figured.

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 **Author's Notes: Annd boom! The real challenge begins for Lucas as he attempts to speak with Maya in order to gain her forgiveness! Who's certainly not gonna make it easy on him! All the while Riley's up to a little something of her own with that mystery person from the phone! May those of you who read have enjoyed this chapter a great deal! R and R!**


	12. Apologizing Is Hard To Do

**Chapter 12**

 **Apologizing Is**

 **Hard To Do**

 **Disclaimer: I own nothing but what you see here. And many, many thanks for the words from the guest reviewer on the previous chapter! Keep in mind I have yet to watch the most recent episode and I've been a bit hesitant about it too.**

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 **March 1st, 2016**

After things were patched up between Lucas and Farkle, the former Texan native tried his hardest to get Maya to speak with him but the task was proving to be far more difficult then he particularly liked. As the Blonde Beauty with a passion for art was proving to be more bullheaded then ol' Tombstone and Cain combined when it came to him! Any attempts from the others to get her to be willing to hear him out fell on deaf ears pretty much and he steered clear of the Hart residence mostly cause of the glares he kept getting from Gammy Hart and occasionally Shawn Hunter himself! Heck, she even had some of her new fangled art pals in one of those programs she'd joined up thanks to Miss Kossel block him from even trying to get through to her and it irritated him to no end. Especially when he happened to see one of them flirting with her! Sparking a flash of jealousy within him and he had to force himself to walk away before he did something he would regret. And now, here he was currently in the halls of John Quincy Adams Middle School trailing along behind her practically pleading with her to look his way and give him a chance long enough to apologize. "Come on Maya, I am tryin' to apologize but you just ain't makin' it easy on me!"

Suddenly, she stopped and he had to stop himself pretty quickly before he ran right into her from behind! Lucas had the hope that maybe, just maybe she was gonna let him have his moment finally but when she turned to him with an angry expression on her face, the young man backed up a few steps with a gulp. "And just WHY exactly should I make it easy on you? Hmm!?"

"Umm… Cause I've been tryin' my hardest to make up for all I've done? And I don't want things to be so bad between us anymore?"

Maya gave him a once over before saying anything. "Right, well you're just gonna have to come up with something real amazing to get me to bother giving you a chance. You hurt me Friar and I'm not one for easily giving second chances to those who hurt me. So if you really want to make it up to me, you'll pull something out of your cowboy hat to do it." And with that she stormed off, leaving a frustrated Lucas Friar behind.

"Geez man, she just stuffed you right back to the bench buddy!" Spoke up Billy as he and Brandon came up to the frustrated teenager.

"Yeah, that's gotta be tough. You sure she's worth all the trouble?"

Brandon's question got him a glare from the Texan and he took a step back with his hands up in the air defensively. "Whoa! Just a question man so relax!"

"I can't relax! I won't be able to do that until things are okay between her and me again!" Exclaimed Lucas with some heat to his tone.

"So whatcha gonna do then? Cause way I see it, you probably only got one inning left before you lose completely with her."

Brandon just rolled his eyes as his new found friend had taken lately to using sports language in his words recently. Why that is, he had no freakin' clue and it drove him absolutely nuts. The two looked at their fellow classmate as he sighed. "I'm… I'm not sure, but I'll figure out somethin'!"

Lucas then walked off to figure out something that would actually work with Maya while the two boys looked on before leaving as well. Both fully prepared to help out if Lucas actually approached them about it.

 **March 3rd, 2016 at Bella's Arts**

Bella's Arts is a little known place in New York that Maya had been introduced to courtesy of Miss Kossal and had quickly fallen in love with the place. As the staff were pretty friendly and most of the artists and even poets there were as well. Making for a really positive environment that appealed greatly to her. She had even made a few friends with some of the regulars there and if she was right, a kid named Mike seemed interested in her. But stuff like that was the last thing on her mind at the moment considering how things are with Lucas. Maya knew she was probably being more difficult then necessary but she couldn't help it. He'd hurt her and now he wanted to make up for that hurt and she felt he had to do something that would make it worthwhile to forgive him. Currently, she, along with Mike, and several others were outside making use of spray cans for an art project that only required the use of spray cans.

Something that was proving to be quite the challenge for the young blonde artist, but Mike however was more than willing to help her out with it. And she could honestly say she didn't mind that somewhat as she did find him cute. Perhaps not as cute as Josh or Lucas but cute none the less. So engrossed in the work in front of her, Maya failed to hear the sounds of a horse's feet coming their way. Allowing for the rider to easily get the drop on her much to the confusion of everyone else present. "Yee-Haw! Time to grab up me a Shortstack of Pancakes!" Yelled out a voice that had her snapping out of her of focus pretty quickly!

And as she turned to the sound of one Lucas Friar, she faintly manage to register the rope that came flying around her! The fact that Lucas himself in a cowboy get up was quickly on her and tying her up good and proper before picking her up and putting her on the horse didn't even fully register until they were galloping away with the others looking on in shock! "LUCAS! UNTIE ME RIGHT NOW OR I SWEAR I WILL HURT YOU SO BADLY!" Screamed out the girl angrily.

Laughter could be heard from the other teenager as they ran down the sidewalk and narrowly missing several things. The horse they happened to be on was none other then the very horse that had been turned into a unicorn back when Riley was looking to be made Class Princess rather then Class President. Lucas was just glad the stable where they kept the horses for the carriages you could find in the park allowed him to use ol' Ulysses for this plan! Once they had gone a good amount of distance, Lucas stopped the horse at a little park with Ulysses giving off a loud whinnie as they stopped. The former Texan native then slid off the horse and used that strong as a horse strength of his to haul off Maya and place her on her feet. Who was giving him quite the heated glare! "Well, I have to say ma'am, you certainly look all tied up like." Remarked the boy with a grin as he tipped his hat at her.

A shudder escaped her as she continued to glare at him. "Let. Me. Go! If you do it right now, I promise I won't do anything back to you." Replied the girl through gritted teeth.

"So you'll give me a chance to properly apologize?"

A series of loud expletives escaped Maya after that, shocking one Lucas Friar greatly as his jaw hung low! "MAYA PENELOPE HART! YO MOMMA KNOW YEW KNOW DEM WORDS!?"

She gave him a little smirk. "That's for me to know and you to find out Bo Beep." God knows the area she lived in certainly had some colorful characters!

That answer was not something Lucas liked at all! "I'm of half a mind to leave ya tied up like this Shortstack."

"You do and they'll never find the body."

Lucas at that point had trouble doubting that as if she could get access to a truck capable of shooting out pink smoothies then she could probably do what she just threatened! "Right, somehow I don't think I want to see or even know how you would pull that off."

"See? You aren't too much of a country bumpkin after all." Snarked the girl and only smirking when he glowered at her.

He then untied her and for his troubles he got a barrage of her fists on him. "Ow! Would you- OW! Stop hitting me! OW!" Instead of saying anything, she hit him hard in the arm and walked off.

Forcing him to chase after her as he rubbed his arm gingerly as for a girl her size she sure packed a punch! "Hey! Come on Maya! Ya said I had to do somethin' amazin' like to get you to speak with ya and I did it!"

She suddenly stopped in her tracks, nearly forcing him to once again almost walk right into her. Maya then turned around with a glare at him that quickly went into a thoughtful look. "Yeah, I did say that didn't I?"

"Yes, ya did. And look, I've done it and if I hafta, I'll get down on my knees and beg for forgiveness. I am truly sorry for that night Maya I am and if I could I would go back and change all of that. I want you back in my life and I have no idea of what else I can do to prove it..."

Lucas was looking down at the ground by that point and completely missing the look on Maya's face. To say he was surprised would be an understatement when she hugged him next. "I… I forgive you Huckleberry… I may not be able to forget but I do forgive you and if you could never do something like that to me again I'll be happy." She told him softly.

"I can't promise that but I'll certainly do my best Ma'am." A chuckle escaped the girl as she looked up at him.

"I guess I can take that. For now."

That her a smile from the boy and it made her knees feel a little weak. Heck, she could practically feel the happyness radiating from him after she finally forgave him and it made her happy too. The fact that sort of weight no longer hung over them was a relief too. And before she knew what was happening or could stop it, their lips met one another's for several seconds until she pulled away and walked a short distance from him as she tucked a lock of hair behind her ear. "Aww crap, Maya I'm… I'm sorry!" God he hoped he didn't just screw things up!

She shook her head as she looked back at him. "No, don't be. Its... Its fine. Just caught me off guard is all."

"Oh."

"I know I said I forgave you and I did I really did, but that sort of thing? I'm not, I'm not willing to go there with you just yet. Maybe in the future but not right now. Not when things are still so fresh in my head."

This time it'd be her who was surprised when he hugged her. "Hey, hey its fine. I completely understand. The timin' ain't right and its my fault and I can live with that. Hopefully in the future the timin' will be a lot better." Maya couldn't help but feel relieved by that and actually felt a little hope for the future where they were concerned.

They then looked into one another's eyes. "Soo… We friends again?"

"Duh! You're not gettin' rid of me that easily Huckleberry." A chuckle escaped the young man.

"I wouldn't dare dream of it. Ma'am." He tipped his hat at her and she gave him a mock glare and a light punch to the shoulder.

"Now, would you please take me back to Bella's? You probably freaked everyone there out with that stunt!"

God help them if the cops got called! "Your wish is my command lil lady!" He escorted her back to Ulysses and helped her get on him.

As they rode back to Bella's, Maya couldn't help but comment on how this horse seemed familiar and would quickly get an answer as to why that was. Which made her smile over that moment of their shared past together. "I'll be sure to tell Riles you said 'hi' big guy!" Called out the girl and she got a soft snort from the mighty horse in return.

Thankfully the cops weren't called and after an explanation or two on what had exactly happened, things got back on track and Lucas took Ulysses on back home. Later on the rest of the group would learn of the happy news and Riley would be noticeably disappointed with the fact they weren't more then just friends but thankfully left it alone for the time being until she got Maya alone. But aside from that, she was just seriously happy the two had finally made up! The fact she got to 'hear' from her Noble Steed made things even better! And now that they were one united group again, she couldn't wait to take on the world once again with her friends all by her side.

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 **Author's Notes: And that concludes the Forgiveness arc. Thank God! Up next: Graduation and a few other things! Originally I had something different in mind for how the forgiveness scene was going to be done between Maya and Lucas, but then I thought up this and decided it shouldn't be passed up on. R and R! As reviews help with the motivation to write this story!**


	13. Dates and Gingers!

**Chapter 13**

 **Dates and Gingers!**

 **Disclaimer: I own nothing but what you see here. A small portion of this chapter is dedicated to a guest reviewer who mentioned a reunion between Ginger and Lucas. And originally I was going to make this about the Middle School graduation, but I figured a several month leap to that would be a little crazy to do.**

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 **March 12th, 2016 Saturday 1:25 PM**

Days had passed since the final apology had been given and accepted and the group was quite possibly better then ever at that point in time. Something everyone in the school was happy about and they could all see the group themselves were very happy about it as well. Riley in particular was still riding the joy over it all, though she strongly wished her best friend and Lucas were together instead of staying apart! Though another reason for her pro-longed happiness was due to a little something she had going on that no one really knew about. Well, aside from her mom anyway. Now you might be wondering what said secret is, and well, its that she's been seeing one Charlie Gardner for some time now after a little call she made to the young man after she and Lucas had forgiven one another. Riley honestly wasn't too sure of how things would go between herself and Charlie but the more time they spent together the more she grew to like him. The young teen found speaking with Charlie to be so much easier then it ever had been with Lucas. Though Riley had the sinking feeling her little secret was about to be found out by someone and she could only hope it wasn't her dad!

But she wasn't about to let that little worry get in the way of her and Charlie's date to a little musical festival happening out at Central Park. Some of the music was pretty great to hear while some of it wasn't. Which made for an interesting conversation between the two considering their musical tastes but she found that to be an okay thing rather than annoying. Something surprised her on but wouldn't fight it as she didn't want to ruin the fun. "I'm glad you dragged me out to this Charlie." Spoke up the girl as they walked hand in hand through the crowds.

Sure, at first she hadn't been too pleased about getting woken up so early that morning but now? Now she was happy about it but she wasn't about to let up on her firm reminder from earlier on about waking her up too early on a Saturday morning. Charlie looked at her with a small smile on his lips. "So am I forgiven then?"

"Hmm… The jury is still out on that." She told him teasiingly, making him laugh.

"In that case, I'm glad I braved the challenge of dragging you out to this."

"Just don't make it a habit."

"I make no promises."

He grinned when she gave him a mock glower as they walked up to a small crowd listening to a band that covered old Rock songs. For Charlie Gardner, the kid was still thanking his lucky stars Riley actually gave him a chance! Though a part of him wondered if she still truly felt something for Lucas Friar and he hated himself for thinking that as it only made him paranoid. But he wasn't about to say anything as she'd already had a say on the subject and he intended to stick with this bout of luck for as long as it lasted. "You got anything in mind you wanna eat?" Asked the kid after leaning in and speaking loudly.

A contemplative look appeared on Riley's face after that. "I think Hot Dogs sounds good."

The fact a Hog Dog stand was nearby was merely coincidence in her decision making if asked on it! Charlie hurriedly got them some Hot Dogs and the two chowed down happily on the food as they heard the music. Even dancing a little to some of it as well. Before long, the two finally left the park around four and headed back to the Matthews home and found themselves staring into one another's eyes for what felt like forever at the door to her home. Both never knowing that someone had spotted the two while on their date at the park and right when they were about to kiss, the front door opened up. "SWEET TACOS!" Yelled out one Cory Matthews, making the two startledly jump apart!

"Shawn wasn't seeing things after all!"

Riley looked at her dad with a nervous look on her face while Charlie prayed to whoever would listen that he would get out of this alive! "Dad! Um… What a uhh, what a nice surprise to see you here!"

Instead of responding, he turned sideways and pointed towards the inside of the room. Getting the hint, both teens reluctantly went inside. The sight of her mother gave the young Matthews girl some hope in all this!

 **Meanwhile, over at Casa Hart**

While Riley and Charlie were more than likely about to receive quite the lecture from Cory over catching the two about to kiss, a vastly different moment was happening at the home of Maya Hart. One that was making for quite the amusing scene as Ginger the Ferret made excited noises as Lucas held and petted him. The former Texan would have been around sooner but Maya's after school activities had kept it from happening until now. It had only taken one look and his scent for the little Ferret to start trying to wiggle out of Maya's hands once she had brought him out of her room and into the front room for Lucas to see. The former Texan had immediately gotten down on his knees as Ginger rushed to him and the reunion between the two was something that would be forever etched into Maya's memory. Even getting her to paint the image later on and teasing her friend over tears she likes to think she saw in his eyes. "Ohh Lord knows I've missed you little fella."

Heck, Lucas had even thought about getting himself a Ferret of his own but the thought always felt wrong to him. Though he wondered what Maya would think of him having a female Ferret that could be friends with Ginger? Only downside would be the potential of the two having babies together and he knew they would have to stay with him rather then at Maya's as they probably would be a little expensive to help care for. And the last thing his Blonde Beauty needed was to deal with more expense issues. _Then again, with Shawn around that might not be such an issue._

Laughing as the little Ferret climbed onto his shoulder and nuzzled his face, Lucas looked to Maya with a happy look on his face. "Thanks Shortstack." He told her seriously.

Not needing an explanation behind that, she only nodded. "Pleasure's all mine Sundance, pleasure's all mine."

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 **Author's Notes: Think that's a good place to end this chapter. Hope you guys enjoyed!**


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